X-Men: Blood Ties
by MatrixOfWumbo
Summary: The sequel to X-Men: Resurgence! MYSTERIES REVEALED! The school is open, and Kitty Pryde and her X-Men try to navigate a strange world where the mutants are forgotten. But when figures from the past bring their secrets to the mansion, will the same dark forces that tore the original X-Men apart end the new school before it begins?
1. Chapter 1

_"Hello?"_

_The young girl was standing in the middle of a vast field of grass that came up to her knees, dotted here and there with brilliant white lilies. She had no idea how she had gotten there._

_"Is anyone there?"_

_Her voice only echoed across the field. She began to whimper. She was lost, and she had no idea where home was._

_"Now, now, little one, don't cry. There is nothing to fear."_

_With a gasp the girl turned around. Before her was a man in a red cloak with curled auburn hair. He smiled at the blonde child warmly._

_"Who… who are you?"_

_"I could ask you the same thing! We don't get visitors in my kingdom very often."_

_"Your kingdom?" The girl's eyes lit up. "So are you a prince? Like the ones in the fairytales?"_

_He crouched down to meet her eye level. "That's exactly right! Will you accompany me back to the castle?"_

_She shuffled her feet. "Well, I really should wait for my friends to come find me. I'm not really supposed to talk to strangers."_

_He blinked imperceptibly. "That's very smart thinking. But there's nobody out here for miles. If you come with me I'm sure we can reach your friends. Not to mention, you must be famished!"_

_She was starting to get hungry, now that she thought about it. "Okay," she said shyly._

_The prince slapped his forehead. "How silly of me! I almost forgot! The little girl deserves a welcoming gift for coming all this way."_

_He held out his hand and a stone about the size of a pea appeared out of thin air. It hovered around two inches above his hand, perfectly spherical and crystal clear. She reached out to take it, then suddenly recoiled in pain with a yelp._

_The prince smiled again, though the kindness the grin carried was no longer there. All around them the pastoral scene transformed. The lilies wilted and died, the grass turned brown and then crumbled to ash. The blue sky became stained with angry scarlet clouds, and great pillars of rock dropped down from the ceiling of the unseen cave. Smoke billowed from faraway fissures as more stone objects rose from the ground. They were roofs and steeples of ragged black buildings._

_The little girl cowered as the world twisted around her._

_"What's the matter, little one?"_

_The prince had begun to change as well. The collar of his cloak extended past his ears in harsh peaks. His skin grew a pinkish pallor as his eyes turned amber. Two small bone white horns protruded from his forehead. Near the hem of his cloak the tip of a tail flickered across his ankles. He licked his teeth with a pointed tongue. "We must return to my palace at once!"_

_In a great eruption of violet fire the ramparts of a terrible castle pierced the infernal landscape. The girl wanted to run somewhere, anywhere. But her legs refused to obey. She felt a numbing heat in the back of her head._

_As the "prince" advanced on her a flash of light appeared between them in the field. From it appeared three figures. A woman with dark skin and shocking white hair. A tall man covered in shaggy blue hair. A wide-shouldered boy clad entirely in metal. The girl felt a pang of hope when she saw him._

_"Give us the girl, demon," the woman said commandingly._

_"Ah, the famed X-Men," the dark figure bowed. "Welcome to Hell."_

_"Please, Belasco. I've been to Hell," came an older voice as a fourth figure emerged from the light. "Yours doesn't impress me."_

_His face was obscured by a red and purple helmet, and he wore a purple cape. He floated a few inches off the ground, regarding the false prince coldly._

_"You're too late," Belasco sneered. "She is already mine."_

_The woman's hands crackled with lightning._

_"We shall see about that."_

**|X-Men: Limbo|**

* * *

Boston, 16 Years Later

Cecily stood stock still in front of the door.

"You can do this," Laura put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"It's been so many months now," Cecily sighed at the dark haired girl, "Is it even okay that I'm here?"

"You had to do this sooner or later. Either they'll understand, or they won't."

Cecily swallowed and rang the doorbell. A woman with streaks of grey in her red hair opened the door. Her hand shot to her mouth when she saw Cecily standing there.

"Ell! Get out here!"

A few minutes later Laura, Cecily, and Ellis and Jill Kincaid were sitting in their living room. Her father was just staring back and forth between the two girls. Finally he said something.

"It's been what, six months? At least that. Since that woman from the school told us where you went. And we never heard from you since then. Not a call, not a text."

"I didn't know what to do," Cecily looked down. "You were both so upset."

"How were we supposed to feel?" Her father said sharply. "How were we supposed to let you go out there, looking like that?"

Her mother gestured at Laura.

"Your friend is a mutant, isn't she? And she doesn't look any different from anyone else. Neither did your teacher. It's just doesn't seem fair to me. Why couldn't you have had one of those mutations?"

Laura stiffened. She excused herself from the room.

"No two mutations are exactly alike," Cecily held up her shimmering metallic arm. "Some of us look normal, others look different, like me. At the school they have these watches that some of us can use to… blend in."

She activated the device, and - to the shock of her parents - returned to the way she had looked the year prior.

"You mean you could use that all along?" Her father didn't seem to understand anymore than he had. Ellis' face was as hard as it had ever been.

"You came to our front door like that, when this whole time you had a way to disguise your… mutation?"

"I'm okay with the way I look," Cecily was now getting frustrated. "I wasn't at first, but I've made some good friends who don't care about stuff like that. They make me stronger."

"Stronger eh? Yeah, you're so strong, Cecily. Strong enough to run away, live on your own with a bunch of other -"

"El," Jill interjected.

"Other _people_. Strangers," he grumbled.

"So what do you want, exactly? For us to say sorry, to just put this all behind us?"

"No." Cecily said quietly.

"No?" Ellis snorted.

"I didn't come to get an apology. I came to say goodbye."

* * *

"Status report, Armor?"

Hisako hefted a piece of flaming rafter out of the way. "The building could be less - hrrng!- on fire, Mr. Wagner."

The X-Men were responding to a hit Cerebro picked up in downtown Boston. A mutant was somewhere in this building, and judging by the fact that it was now on fire, there must have been a complication when their powers manifested.

"I count three left on our floor, including the mutant," Rachel chimed in.

Chistopher Muse, the X-Men's resident healer, was assisting some people trapped on the floor below, instructing them how to put on respirator masks and keep low to avoid smoke. A pair of Boston firefighters were hacking down doors to clear their way out.

"The firemen are saying the blaze is getting into the fourth floor," Chris reported. "We're running out of building. Armor, watch what you move."

"Copy. No bringing the building down on our heads. That would be embarrassing."

Kurt was circling the city in the Blackbird, keeping tabs of the operation. It was supposed to be a lot simpler than this. But now the X-Men were stretched between collecting the mutant and rescuing the people trapped inside.

_Sorry Cecily,_ he thought. _I know you needed some family time. But we can't save this mutant shorthanded._

* * *

Laura reappeared in the doorway. She would have taken any excuse to leave the house, but she was saved by a phone call from Nightcrawler.

"Cecily, that was Mr. Wagner. It's all hands on deck, now."

"Oh," Cecily nodded. She looked at her parents. "Maybe we weren't ready for this yet. But I have to go save another mutant. Because that's what my friends and I do. So… goodbye."

She hurried out the door before she could change her mind. Laura followed behind her. They both were silent for a while as they started the car.

"Nightcrawler's picking us up about 4 miles from here. I thought the plan was to invite them to the open house next month?"

Cecily's face drooped a bit.

"It will be easier for everyone if they weren't invited. They'd probably send the police before they came themselves."

"Hn," Laura grunted.

"You were quiet in there," Cecily added. "I thought you'd have more to say."

"I had plenty to say. But sometimes," Laura held up her fist to imply the claws stored within.

"There are some subjects where I know I won't stop at talking. Besides, I was just there for moral support. It's your family, and your fight."

"Don't we do enough fighting already?" Cecily groaned. She pointed out the passenger side window.

"Oh! Speaking of which, there's our ride."

The Blackbird decloaked from above the car and pulled it up and in with the special rig Kurt and Kitty had devised. The girls went back to get changed into their mission uniforms once the doors had closed. When they finished, they met with Kurt and Lockheed on the bridge. Lockheed was a small purple dragon. He didn't speak English, but he made up for it with several unique talents. Like flying aircraft.

Laura looked at the camera feed of the burning building.

"_Dios_. You weren't kidding Mr. Wagner."

"How are we going to find anyone in that?" Cecily asked.

"I'm open to suggestions. Hold on tight, girls. Lockheed, you're in charge."

In a puff of smoke, they were on the ground. A throng of people cordoned off from the blaze pointed and reacted with surprise at the appearance of the strange newcomers. The firefighters let them pass. They had already met the first three mutants on their way into the building, and at this point their captain wasn't saying no to extra hands. Has he not been managing three squads of firefighters he might have had more questions for the strangely polite blue guy with the tail.

Triage was leading his group of evacuees out of the building when the three mutants reached the entrance.

"Keeping cool, Muse?" Laura pulled down her mask. "Where's our soon-to-be new friend?"

"Second floor doctor's office," Chris said. "Phoenix is almost there, Armor is on her way out. The Fire Chief says there's a couple of his crew cut off on the third floor."

"I'll port up to Rachel's location," Kurt cracked his four knuckles. "Wolverine and Mercury, you locate the firefighters above!"

Nightcrawler disappeared in another puff of smoke, leaving Mercury and Wolverine to enter the building the old fashioned way. At length they arrived on the third floor.

"There's a scent leading down there," Wolverine pointed down a hallway glowing bright with flames running down the walls.

"It's faint and hard to keep track of with all the smoke, but it's there. We need a plan if we're getting down there, though."

Mercury melded her arm into a silver umbrella to block the embers raining down.

"Can't you heal through it?"

"I wouldn't be in good shape by the time I got to the other side. And they'd probably run in the other direction if they saw me coming."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Me the knight, you the shining armor?"

Cecily twisted into a fully liquid state and wound herself around Laura's body. The trick had won the day during the X-Men's first trip in the field, and they had been working on its practical applications ever since.

"I conduct heat pretty well, so don't take too long if you don't want a very awkward sunburn," she said, forming her head opposite Laura's.

"Just watch my back, I'll take care of the rest."

* * *

"Thank you for the assist, Rachel."

Nightcrawler could usually only teleport within his line of sight, or to places he had been before. Trying to eyeball it was an invitation to get stuck in a wall. But if someone with psychic powers like Rachel Grey leant him their eyes, he could go just about anywhere in range.

"Of course, Mr. Wagner. It's just this way."

Using her telekinesis, Rachel pushed open the door to the doctor's office. They were in a waiting room, the melted remains of a puzzle table and a charred bookshelf denoted it was some sort of pediatric practice. And huddled in the corner were two children, a boy and girl.

The purple psionic glow faded from Phoenix's eyes as she approached the children.

"It's okay, we're here to help. Do you know where the other kid is?"

The girl pointed, but didn't say anything. They both looked terrified. Kurt, thinking ahead, had activated his watch before entering. He now approached the children as a lanky young man with high cheekbones instead of as an - admittedly less inviting - blue mutant.

"I mean you no harm. Just close your eyes and count to three, and we'll get you out of here. Ready?"

The children huddled close and closed their eyes.

"One… two…"

_**BAMF**_

"Three!"

The boy and girl opened their eyes and found themselves on the ground outside the building. A team of paramedics rushed over to tend to them. Kurt flashed then a quick smile and teleported back upstairs.

"In here, Nightcrawler," Phoenix' voice drew him back further into the collapsing building. Lying in the middle of the receptionist's office - curled into a ball - was the shape of a girl covered in bright red cracks like a volcano. A white hot discharge poured from the openings. Heat radiated it out of her and all across the room. Kurt felt his fur start to singe.

"We can't get in there," he called over the road of the blaze.

"Not physically," Rachel agreed, a series of glowing lines appearing on her face.

"There's… a lot… of fear in her mind…" Phoenix winced through the strain required to telepathically communicate with the mutant.

"Steady Rachel, I can't have you lose control here."

"I'm… I'm in. She… can't stop the fire. I'm going to bring her down into unconsciousness. Then you port us out.'

The girl let out a shuddering breath, and the worst of the heat dissipated. The cracks faded to reveal a fair skinned girl with strawberry blonde hair. The fire still raged on though, and they had little time to celebrate their victory.

* * *

"Damn thing," the firefighter grumbled, pressing the button on his radio one more futile time.

"They know we're up here, it's only a matter of time before they find us," his partner tried to reason with him.

The first firefighter grabbed his axe.

"This building's getting worse by the minute. We're gonna have to rescue ourselves."

At that moment, a bizarre metal shape crashed through the wall of the room they were pinned in. The figure's head receded to reveal the face of a dark haired girl.

"You still aiming to rescue yourselves, or are you coming with us?"

The firemen looked at one another. They shrugged and went over to the newcomer.

* * *

About an hour later, the fire had been mostly contained.

Chris saw the two children Nightcrawler evacuated from the building sitting on the tailgate of an ambulance in shock blankets. Both of them looked frozen, with dead, frightened eyes. He walked over.

"Anyone hurt? I can look at cuts and burns."

The girl looked up and, after a delayed reaction, said "Um, I cut my knee."

"Ah, let me see. You know her?" Chris jerked his head back towards the mutant girl Armor and Rachel were carrying into the Blackbird.

The boy shook his head.

"You're scared," Chris said to the children. It wasn't a question. "That kid started this huge fire, and you barely made it out alive. But as scared as you are, imagine how scared she must be. Try to remember that, if you ever run into her again. It will mean more than you know."

Chris took a look a look at the girl's knee.

"What's gonna happen to her?" She worked up the nerve to ask.

"Is she gonna go to jail?" The boy added.

"No, no. We're going to take her back to our home, and we're gonna teach her how to control her ability. She'll meet a lot of other people like her, get the help she needs."

"That sounds cool," the boy said.

"It is pretty cool, yeah," Chris nodded. The last six months of his life had certainly been the most interesting. He had nearly died once or twice, gone to exotic places, met some cool people - and a dragon.

"Do you make fire too?" The girl asked. They were both a bit more energetic now.

"Nope. I do this!" Chris's hands emitted a soft glow, and when he lifted it, the cut had healed.

"Woah," the boy whispered.

"There's lots of people like us, and everyone does something different. A lot of them don't even know it yet. But if they need help, we'll find them."

"That's nice," the girl said.

"It's kind of a shame about the building though," the boy looked at the burnt out structure.

"Yeah," Chris said thoughtfully.

* * *

As the Blackbird flew off, the crowd of bystanders and reporters dispersed.

"The mysterious new guys again, eh?"

One of the reporters was discussing the events of the morning with their cameraman.

"Suppose we should reach out to the State Department, see if they have a statement. They must be hot about these guys sidestepping the Accords."

The cameraman was focusing on his recording while he listened. "I'm sure it will be the same old 'no comment.' Bah. This ain't gonna win us a Pulitzer, that's for sure."

"Did you not get the shot?"

"I got the shot, but I didn't get _them_. Their faces are all blurry, not a single one in focus."

"Why didn't you… zoom in, or something?"

"You don't get it. Here, look. Everything else is in focus, it's just them. Damn superpowers."

And all across town people were realizing that their photos and videos didn't come out either. Where the faces of the X-Men should have been in full view, there was only fuzz. It was one of Kurt's favorite toys.

* * *

Kitty Pryde hurried downstairs when she heard the Blackbird descending. Kurt, Laura, Rachel, and Cecily were deplaning when she got to the hangar.

Kurt gave her a wave.

"Are we late?"

"It's possible that you're late," Kitty rolled her eyes and hugged Kurt.

"Armor and Triage are taking the new mutant to the infirmary," Kurt reported. "Chris will do the brunt of the healing, then let her rest until after the orientation."

Lockheed flew over to Kitty and perched on her shoulder. The little dragon was Kitty's friend and partner. They had lived together for most of the time the school had been closed.

"Hi, you. Did you keep these guys in line? You smell like a campfire."

"I suppose that makes us the s'mores," Chris said, wiping his goggles once more to clear some of the soot from the rims. He and Armor rejoined the group. "New mutant is a pyrokine. Said her name is Amara. Made a _bit_ of a mess."

"Well, unfortunately we don't have time to change," Rachel was looking steadily upwards. "Miss Frost's aura is becoming more impatient as she goes."

The X-Men were all gathered in the sublevels of the Xavier Mansion, where for years the mutant team had made their home.

"No worries," Kitty smiled. "I know a shortcut."

* * *

"Which is why it is imperative that we remain vigilant as our kind reemerges in the world."

Several stories above Kitty's head, a large gathering was seated in the mansion's sun-filled event hall. It was Orientation Day. The day all their hard work (and much of Emma's money) paid off. The day the Xavier School for Higher Learning opened its doors to a new class of mutants.

The students, many accompanied by their parents, sat before Emma Frost, who was currently winding down her welcoming address. If only the address had been at all welcoming. Emma had chosen to emphasize her newfound commitment to protecting mutantkind by bolstering her speech with all sorts of fearsome rhetoric of the kind that the mothers in the audience wouldn't have wished to hear before leaving their children to stay on their own for the summer.

Scott Summers, Emma's boyfriend - though they had both agreed that they probably ought to find a different term for it - was slouched in his seat trying not to look as uncomfortable being up there as he was.

_Wrap it up, Emma,_ he thought to himself. _You're losing the room._

_I've also lost our dear headmistress, in case you couldn't tell,_ Emma paused in her speech long enough to blast into his mind. Idle thoughts were difficult to keep to yourself around telepaths.

_I don't know, make something up?_

_Damnit Scott, I've got enough going on up here as it is-_

Emma stuttered at her podium.

"Ahem. Apologies, I seem to have lost my place. At this point I would pass the microphone to our headmistress, Katherine Pryde. But she had to step out a moment ago-"

"Here I am," Kitty announced, her upper body phasing through the back wall of the stage. The audience was awash in gasps and laughter. Emma was less impressed.

She stepped through the wall, hand in hand with the other X-Men behind her.

"I wanted to make sure that you met the most important part of our operation here at the Institute: the X-Men. As you all know, humankind has forgotten about their mutant neighbors. But young people are still discovering their mutations every day, and many of them find themselves in need of help. That's what the X-Men are for. The X-Men find endangered mutants all over the world and bring them back here to learn and acclimate themselves to their new abilities."

She reached the podium now, and rolled into the main part of her speech. She had never been in front of so many people.

"Some of you have been affiliated with the school in the past. I want to offer particular thanks to our new staff, many of whom are alumni."

There was a patter of applause directed at the front row, where the teachers sat. Recognizable to Kitty's students was Alison Blaire, the FBI agent who had helped them defeat Mister Sinister months prior. There was also a young woman with deep green hair, a powerfully built man with hair down to his shoulders, and a man with shining good skin.

"...But others here today were approached in secret. We appreciate your discretion as we figure out how best to reintroduce ourselves to the world. Charles Xavier believed coexistence was possible, and I believe it too. That's why I hope that very soon we won't have to have meetings like this in the shadows, and that one day this will be a school for everyone."

The crowd clapped for Kitty. She gave a sheepish grin.

"But for now, let's focus on the present. Welcome to the first official term of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning!"


	2. Chapter 2

After the orientation, a luncheon was held in the foyer and adjacent lounges of the mansion.

"Kurt!"

Nightcrawler and the others were just now joining the festivities after a much needed shower. A teenage girl was running up to greet the fuzzy blue mutant.

She waved her gloved arms in the air, gesturing at the vast scope of the room. "This place is huge! I really get to live here all summer?"

"Hello Anna!" Kurt hugged his sister and took in the decor as well. "I'm glad you like it! Miss Frost and I did a lot of the redecorating ourselves."

Anna brushed the distinctive lock of white hair away from her eyes. "C'mon bro, you know I don't like going by my boring human name around other mutants."

"Anna-Marie Wagner, you have a very nice name, and you really ought to know that by now."

Anna tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Kurt's only two modes were "remarkably cheerful" and "big brother." Guess which one she always got.

"Think of what mother would say if she were here, you running around asking people to call you 'Rogue,' like you were in some sort of roller derby league?"

"If mother were ever actually around," she muttered under her breath. "Besides, you all get cool names, isn't that right 'Nightcrawler?'"

"Hm. Yes, I have a codename. That's different. And you will get to pick your own. When you're _ready._"

Kurt then caught sight of an old friend - Doug Ramsey, their new IT administrator - and excused himself to say hello.

Now alone in the throng of people, Rogue realized that she wouldn't be seeing her brother nearly as often as when they both lived at home.

A smile crept across her face. _Finally_, she thought

* * *

"Ma, this thing is choking me."

"Do you see this house, Sam? This is the fanciest house you'll ever stand in. Not to mention, Charles Xavier was a family friend. He had a tremendous heart for people like you and your cousins. So as long as you're in his house, you'll keep your tie on."

"But Ma, when classes start I'll still be in the house, and I won't have to wear a bowtie then."

"Samuel Guthrie."

"Yes, Ma."

Sam broke off from his family to grab some food. Like Anna-Marie, he couldn't wait to start the school year and temporarily escape his family's shadow. He often lost track of how many siblings he had (more than a few of which had been students here in the past). But for this one summer, he'd be away from everyone. It wasn't that he didn't like everyone back home. But felt like his entire home town was part of the Guthrie family. If he wanted to make a name for himself it sure as Hell wasn't going to be in Kentucky.

"Nice tie," a dark haired boy about his age was smirking at him from the other side of the punch bowl.

"Nice suit," Sam retorted.

"I know," he said. "It makes me look smart, right?"

"Well, looks aren't everything."

Sam paused for a tense beat. Then the two boys broke out laughing.

"Bobby Da Costa," the boy stuck out his hand.

"Sam Guthrie," Sam shook it.

"I think we're gonna be good friends, Sam."

"Good to see the new guys already getting to know one another," Hisako said as she and Chris arrived at the table.

"I'm just happy there are going to be more boys here," Chris added with a mouth full of food. "Mr. Wagner and I have been pretty outnumbered."

"So you guys are like, real X-Men, right?" Bobby asked. "You saved the world and everything?"

"Yeah…" Hisako said slowly. "But we don't get a big head about it. Not all of us anyway," she glanced sidelong at Chris.

A tall boy with shoulder length blonde hair arrived to grab a plate of roast beef. A pair of what must have been feathered wings were folded tightly under his suit. He was quite handsome, Hisako thought.

"I mean, it's not like we fought off a whole army Avengers style. But we did stop a crazy corporate guy. And his crystal golems, which were kind of like a small army. There were what? Seven? Eight?"

"At least nine." Hisako put a hand on her hip.

"And they fired lasers!"

"Regardless, the important thing is that we became really good friends along the way. It's nice to meet other mutants, even if you didn't know what a mutant was longer than a week before you got here. Which was my case."

"I'm glad to have a place where I don't need to hide." The handsome boy said. "My father bought an indoor skydiving facility in Dubai just to be able to stretch his wings."

"Wait," Hisako squinted.

"He _bought_ a skydiving place?" Sam gaped.

"In _Dubai?_" Chris finished.

"Oh yes. I apologize, I'm used to everyone knowing who I am. Warren Worthington IV. My father runs Worthington Industries, he used to run with the X-Men back in the day."

"I guess this _is_ basically a private school," Chris stroked his chin. "Shouldn't be that odd to see a few rich kids around."

"Heh, yeah, right?" Bobby said with a nervous laugh.

* * *

In the yard behind the mansion, a number of white tents had been set up for guests to eat outside. Kitty Pryde was winding her way through the modest crowd, greeting parents and introducing herself to students.

Someone called out to Kitty from one of the tents.

"Hey, Pryde!"

Kitty found the source of the voice in Clarice Fergusson, her roommate from her student days at the mansion. They hadn't kept in contact for the 15 years since they last saw one another - they were never the closest of friends - but the woman's striking green eyes and purple markings around her face were instantly recognizable. She was sitting in a currently-empty tent staying out of the sun.

Kitty took a seat next to Clarice.

"Hey, Blink. Long time, no see."

"It's good to be back. How've you been?"

"Extremely bored, up until about a year ago. It will be ten months next week, actually. But now? This certainly isn't boring."

"I missed it, a bit," Clarice shrugged.

"I missed it very much," Kitty said sincerely. "There wasn't much waiting for me back home. But here, you had the Danger Room!"

"The big dining room!" Clarice added.

"The library."

Blink crinkled her nose in thought.

"The... bunk beds?"

"Maybe I don't miss the beds," Kitty and Clarice both chuckled.

"That was a very impressive stunt, Miss Pryde."

Kitty heard Emma's voice over her shoulder. The reformed supervillain put extra iciness into the 'Miss Pryde' part.

"Not a stunt at all, Emma," Kitty asserted. "The students and their parents need to know that mutation is more than just a party trick. Plus, we needed to get upstairs quickly."

"Well, perhaps the Avengers have increased the appeal of _theater_ in our line of work, but unlike them we have very important things to accomplish. And it's imperative that we do them without attracting attention."

She huffed off to greet another tent.

"You wouldn't believe she used to be in the Hellfire Club," Clarice said dryly, once Emma had left.

"Sometimes it still feels like I'm a kid in those bunk beds," Kitty said sullenly. "I realize how much bigger than me this all is when I see how many people are here."

"There are definitely some big league mutants to stack up with around here. Just look who's coming back to the table."

Clarice gestured with her spoon towards the two people approaching the tent.

Lorna Dane and Jonathan Proudstar were two more of Kitty's classmates when they were all training under Professor Xavier. Kitty learned a few months ago that they had been leading an underground movement to keep the mutant population safe while the X-Men were disbanded. During that time they had gone by Polaris and Thunderbird, respectively.

The number of active mutants around the world was quite startling to Kitty. She had presumed that Xavier's options were limited when he selected her and the other young X-Men to restart the school. But there were pockets of former X-Men all over that came around once word got out that the X-Men were back in business. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

"There she is," Polaris called out. "The woman of the hour."

"You flatter me, Lorna," Kitty rubbed the back of her head. "I'm the one who should be greeting you. I hear your quite the celebrity in the mutant community. I didn't even know there still was a mutant community.

"It's not nothing that you got picked to run the school," the green haired woman said. "I'm happy to lend a hand."

"I'll need it. Five was one thing, this is another entirely. We're gonna have a lot on our plates if we want to manage all these students."

"And getting our name out there. We can't sit around having secret garden parties forever if we want to save more mutants."

"Emma thinks the opposite," Blink said. "That we need keep humans from finding us to keep the mutant race safe."

"They're going to find out one way or the other. If we wait too long someone's going to do it for us, and then we don't have any control over the message. We have a real opportunity here to reset human-mutant relations to something positive."

"Welcome to every argument Alison and Emma have gotten into for the last four months," Kitty groaned.

"You should be a saint for putting up with her after everything she put you through," Jonathan gestured.

"We're both on good behavior today for the orientation. Besides, I think the Vatican would have certain _other_ objections to my canonization. She's really put a lot of work into reopening the school, all joking aside. Emma handled all the accreditation paperwork for registering us as a school, and our humanitarian status under the Walters Amendment of the Sokovia Accords is in her and Scott's name. She thrives for bureaucracy."

"She knows she has a lot to prove, given her past. I know a thing or two about that," Lorna agreed.

"Sorry, Lorna," he shrugged. "You'll excuse me if I keep an eye on her, though."

"I'm the one teaching a class with her," Polaris rapped him on the shoulder. "You worry about yourself."

"Where's your partner, anyway?" Clarice asked.

"Rahne is down in the infirmary greeting our newest tenant," Kitty answered. "We'll have to catch up with her later."

* * *

She was in a doctor's office of some sort. But not like any she had ever seen before. And not like the dentist's office she last remembered. A man was working on some instruments in front of her. His skin was shining gold, and he wore a pair of dark gloves.

"Good morning. It's Amara, right?"

"Yeah. Where am I? What happened to the building I was in?"

"Take it one step at a time," the golden man said. "You did quite a bit of damage to both yourself and your surroundings. But that can be addressed later. My name is Joshua, but you may call me Elixir."

"And where you are, is Westchester New York."

Scott Summers stepped into the room and revealed himself to Amara. A woman with red hair and sharp features was with him.

"I… need to get home," Amara said. "Thank you for getting me to safety, but, I'm allowed to leave, right?"

"Of course," the woman nodded. And we can contact anyone you need to let them know where you are."

Scott's face was unmoving.

"But before you do leave, you might consider staying. You have a great deal of power, but you don't know how to control it. Am I wrong?"

Amara looked at her hands.

"No…"

"But here, you are safe. And we can help protect everyone around you while you train."

"Train?"

"Train. Practice your gift, until you can control it as easily as using your hands."

"Rest here for as long as you like," Elixir smiled. "You can decide in the morning."

* * *

_Cerebro Files [The Xavier Mansion]

_I am of the fifth generation of Xaviers to live in this house since its construction over one hundred years ago. Since then it has been stocked with numerous creature comforts: 18 guest rooms, 3 bathrooms, a library, a theater, far more than one man could ever need. So I'm putting all that space to better use. A small group of students have been selected. Erik and I have developed a rudimentary technology for finding people like us - mutants. This old house is to be the headquarters from which we will save our race. [ADMN_X/0915-1994]

_Miss Pryde says that - since Miss Frost and I are the resident telepaths - we should take over for Professor Xavier as stewards of the Cerebro databanks. She really wants us to do it so that we spend more time together... But I suppose it won't be all bad. There are records here of nearly every mutant to have come through the school since it opened. There will be lots of interesting files to look through. [ADMN_R/0108-2024]

_The house underwent a number of changes since Xavier opened the school. Surely accommodating the professor's wheelchair within the three story home was one of the most notable. When it shut its doors in 2007, the mansion held 81 students. After our remodel to add more staff quarters finishes it's going to be more like half of that number. Another dormitory further up the property will be required as we continue to grow.

I never fancied myself a teacher, but it's far from the most far-fetched thing of these last five years. [ADMN_F/0107-2024]


	3. Chapter 3

Anna-Marie took a seat towards the back of the room and surveyed her classmates. In the front was an Asian girl with a bright yellow blazer. A few seats over was a boy with no hair and several bluish markings (Tattoos? Cool.) running the length of his face. In the back corner, barely visible inside a maroon hoodie zipped tightly up to her neck, was another girl.

Students continued to trickle in. At the top of the hour a blonde woman breezed through the door with a purposeful gait, heels clicking.

"Hello class," she announced without looking at the assembled students. "I'm Miss Blaire, but you can call me 'Dazzler.'"

With a wave of her hand the word appeared in glowing letters that fizzled with a similar lack of enthusiasm. The girl in the yellow jacket grew a wide grin.

"This class is about the basics," Dazzler continued. "Some of you may not know how to use your power, or the way your power _can_ be used. In our class you'll come to a greater understanding of what it is you can do with your mutation. Now, it was decided that we should all go around and get to know each other. Tell me your name, and how you would best describe your power."

The girl in the yellow jacket vaulted from her chair.

"I'll go first! My parents named me Jubilation, but everyone calls me Jubilee because I'm a one-girl party! I can shoot firecrackers from my hands!"

To demonstrate, she produced a shower of whirling blues and greens throughout the room.

_Ugh_, Anna covered her ears.

"Okay, well, we don't really do the name thing for a while yet, but sure," Dazzler trailed off.

The boy with the facial markings rose.

"My name is N'Ezhno. I can summon great strength, but only for short periods of time before it saps my energy. Yes, I am from Wakanda, and no, I do not know the Black Panther. You are all from America, yes? How many of you have met Barack Obama?"

Alison briefly considered raising her hand, before realizing that she was likely the only person in the room previously employed by the federal government.

The class went around introducing themselves until eventually Alison reached Anna.

"What about you, kid, what do you do?"

"Nothing," she grumbled.

"I think you might have the wrong class, then," Dazzler arched her eyebrow.

"My touch just hurts people. It's why I wear these," she held up her arms to show her gloves.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. We can get you sorted. What's your name?"

"Anna-Marie. Wagner."

"Wagner? Ah, what a coincidence. Your older brother will be co-teaching with me."

"What?"

"Every class has two teachers, to better make sure you have the care you need. The rest of you will meet Nightcrawler next period. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Nope. That's just perfect."

Rogue couldn't believe it. Even at this whole big school she couldn't get her brother out of her hair.

Alison had moved on to the girl wrapped deep in her hoodie.

"You must be-"

"Amara," the girl muttered. She sounded exhausted.

"The new girl. Welcome to the school. What do you have for us?"

"I don't really know why I'm here," she said bitterly. "They told me I set a building on fire."

The other students murmured.

Dazzler sighed. She was out of her element, adrift in a sea of hormones. This was her decision though, to lend a hand to the X-Men after their help with Sinister. Alison had hoped to never see this place again; but then, a lot had changed.

"Who wants a syllabus?"

* * *

"Alright, let's begin!"

Rahne stood before her class with a sharp-toothed grin. Of all the incoming teachers she was perhaps the most excited to get the summer started.

"In this class you will learn intermediate self-defense, as well as the fundamentals of being mutant in a modern society. Mr. Proudstar and I will be your guides through this semester. By the end, we will have discovered what sort of role you'll play in the future of mutantkind."

"Miss Frost says the future of mutantkind is in constant flux," a blonde girl in the front row said.

"So we need to learn how to fight back against an indifferent system," an identical blonde girl next to her said.

These were Mindee and Phoebe, and together with their sister Celeste they made up the set of triplets called the Cuckoos. The circumstances of how they came to be at the school were somewhat complicated, but they never left one another's side

"Your tutor is wise," a scruffy boy with ruffled brown hair in the back piped up. "You never know what sort of unsavory characters you'll run into."

He grinned, and winked his red eye at Phoebe.

"We can see your thoughts, you know," Mindee scoffed.

"Horrid, dirty thoughts," Celeste added.

"Like Miss Frost when she's around Mr. Summers," Mindee finished thoughtfully.

"I do not deny it," the boy shrugged, grinning again.

* * *

"You are here," Emma began, "Because your potential places you above your peers. Because there are currently five X-Men, and if our school is to return to its former prominence we will need more. You are the lifeline between our kind and oblivion."

The small class, including Warren, Sam, and Bobby, regarded her blankly.

"The X-Men's mission statement is a simple one," Polaris continued, side-eyeing Emma as she did so. "To protect a world that hates and fears us. That mission takes many forms, and in this new and uncertain time it likely takes forms we aren't yet prepared for. But I emphasize _yet_, because we _will_ adapt, and we _will_ evolve. As mutants always do. Until one day, we will win the trust of the world."

Emma stepped forward.

"But at the same time, you must remember - they will _always_ hate us. Fight as though Charles Xavier's dream will one day come true, but fight with the conviction that it likely never will."

Bobby raised his hand.

"Roberto, what is it, dear?" Emma's demeanor suddenly changed.

"This all sounds super life or death. I guess I didn't expect that from the first day of class."

"Miss Frost's account is somewhat… dramaticized," Lorna shrugged. "But she's correct to take this seriously. This isn't an entry level course, so to say. You will be challenged, almost as though you were the X-Men. Because someday you will be."

* * *

"Is it still out there?"

Chris moved away a blind to take a look outside. A flying machine hovered low through the streets of the town, a red beam taking across the buildings.

"Definitely. What's the play, Shadowcat?"

Kitty shrugged. "Team, check in, you still with us? Triage and I are pinned, second floor main street."

"Lockheed and I are in the park," Cecily whispered. "Enemy drone is around the corner from us. Should we intercept?"

"Not yet," Rachel called out. "This thing is zapping anything that moves. He'll see you coming down the road. It's a machine, so I can't disguise any of us from its sensors."

_"Permission to try something?"_ Wolverine asked over comms.

_"Laura, I don't know. We haven't drilled it enough,"_ Armor argued.

_"We'll be fine. You can hit a moving target, can't you?_

_"Oh boy. Here goes nothing."_

"Girls? What are you doing? Talk to me," Kitty called out.

Her answer came when Hisako exploded through the wall of a building across the street. Laura dashed around her and rolled out of the way of the drone's blast. The machine had taken immediate notice. Armor's psionic shields grew taller and Wolverine leapt into her hand. Then one dark haired girl hurled the other like a javelin at the flying foe.

Laura popped her claws and hooked onto the side of the machine, digging out a large chunk. But she was unable to neutralize the cannon, which continued firing madly at Hisako. Her armor beginning to fade, she had to retreat.

The drone grabbed onto Laura with a metal claw and trained its guns on her. Flames built on the exterior of its wounded side. Its targeting systems were damaged, but it could still manage a close-up shot.

"Hey, that's enough!" Rachel called out, telekinetically grabbing the gun and trying to wrest it from the machine. It caught notice of her, and began firing the gun wildly in whichever direction it could manage.

"It's getting warm over here, Summers," Laura shouted as the flames started licking her.

Kitty and Triage emerged from their hiding place.

"I asked for status reports, not wild acts of heroism. What the hell are you guys doing?"

Then suddenly, the flying machine froze, and the world around them dissolved.

"I'm calling it there," Scott announced as he emerged from the Danger Room booth. At his side was Danielle Moonstar, one of the new Danger Room trainers.

"Well, let's review," Danielle started. "There was certainly some room for improvement."

"That sounded a lot more fun in Dad's stories," Laura said, nursing a few bruises.

Cyclops looked at Laura and Hisako.

"The Fastball Special is a bold move. But an advanced one. It would be best not to resort to it in live combat until you've mastered it."

"Is that not what practice is for?" Laura whispered to Hisako.

"Practice is for not risking your life even if the situation is virtual," Scott said flatly. "Shadowcat tells me you're still working on accounting for your own limits, Little Miss Adamantium Bones."

"We were doing well until we got separated," Kitty added, putting herself between Wolverine and Cyclops. "When we're divided, we try to take the situation into our own hands."

"Getting back together and _staying_ together is the most important thing in those situations," Scott interjected. "We'll run it again. This time, Rachel and I will take the front."

"Hmph," Rachel grumbled. "Right."

"Um, yeah, Scott," Kitty said slowly. "Sure! Me and Lockheed will monitor from the... booth."

Lockheed tilted his head quizzically at his old friend. She didn't notice him, only turning to quickly walk out of the Danger Room.

* * *

At the end of the first week of school the teachers went down to Harry's Hideaway for a celebration of the smooth start to the term.

"Everyone," Kitty rang her glass with a spoon. "A toast! To the new school year!"

"Hear! Hear!" Kurt clinked his cup against hers.

"And thank goodness the world didn't need saving for one week," Blink raised her glass.

"Cerebro's been quiet as well," Doug added. "Not so much as a blip since young Amara's powers manifested."

The owner of the bar, Harry Morrel, emerged from the back with a tray of drinks.

"I gotta say," he said plopping his tray on the bar. "It's good to see that big old house being put to good use. Wasn't the same without all the tykes running around."

"Thank you, Harold," Emma took a mug and sipped it as daintily as she could manage.

"Teaching sure beats laser fights with crystal golems," Kitty grabbed a glass did her own. "When you're young you always want to be the one jumping out of the plane, but it's an awful lot of work."

"I heard you actually did jump out of a plane on that first mission," Dani smiled at her accusingly.

"I'm with her," Thunderbird nodded. "Saving the world is fun but the whole constant vigilance thing gets to be a lot. You never know when you have evacuate a clinic ahead of a SHIELD raid."

"Or a Brood infestation," Polaris added.

"God, I haven't seen a Brood in twenty five years," Scott said wistfully.

Kitty flashed a desperate look at Kurt. These guys had been in the game longer than her. She was in no position to talk shop.

"Um, so how are everyone's classes going?" Kurt spoke up, ever one to come to his friends' rescue. "Everyone getting along? I think I'll need to do some work to get Amara out of her shell."

"I wish my co-teacher would stop scaring half my students," Polaris said. "And maybe turning on the other half."

"I'm afraid there's only so much I can do about one of those things," Emma smiled. "But as for the other, I only ask that they know what sort of fight they're getting into."

"Maybe save all that apocalyptic jargon for finals week though," Alison offered. "Before you put the wrong ideas in their heads."

"Wrong ideas?"

The various conversations in the room ground to a halt.

"Um, Emma, perhaps this isn't the place," Scott murmured.

"What _isn't_ the place?" Alison raised her hands. "You never miss an opportunity to talk about how much you're against reintegration."

"The lady has a point," Doug involved himself against his better judgement. "Even your speech at Orientation was rather… incendiary."

Emma sighed.

"Okay. If we are to all coexist this semester we should probably clear the air of this subject once and for all. I appreciate everything you all have done for mutantkind since the fall. That includes your work in the underground movement, Lorna, and your efforts to hide us from the federal government, Alison. But I have lived in the underworld of our people for much of my life. I've bumped elbows with the kind of people human and mutant alike that would make your skin crawl. And I know what they're after. The hatred of mutantkind is part of a complex ecosystem that all branches from one point: that the war was good for business. Dragging it back into the open will only increase their opportunity to profit, and drive the stakes further and further up. There's nothing that good men and women can do to stop rich men and women."

"Bull," Alison said sharply.

"What about this place," Lorna joined in. "Harry's no mutant, but we've gotten on just fine. His business is drinks, not war."

"That's quite different," Emma brushed her off. "The professor worked hard to build up a rapport with the locals."

"And we'll work even harder to build one with the world beyond Westchester," Lorna put her glass down. "We can't just ignore the rest of society, Frost."

"Our kind goes unappreciated by that so-called society."

Lorna tossed her hair aside haughtily. "And we both know how mutants got such a sterling reputation. Perhaps we should flee back into _that_ sort of society."

"Okay everyone, let's maybe dial it back a hair," Kitty stammered.

"I left that life behind me," Emma said, stung.

"So I've heard. At length."

"But yet it's so hard to see me on the side of the angels? Or _perhaps_ you're just upset because I make it look so easy."

The silverware rattled on the tables. Jonathan placed a hand on the green haired woman's shoulders.

"Lorna," he whispered.

She shook her head and let out a deep breath.

"It's been a long week. I'm going to get some rest."

Polaris left the Hideaway, a much quieter gathering of mutants behind her.

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Dazzler]

_Civilian Name: Alison Blaire

_Mutant Ability: Conversion of Sonic Energy into Light

_Alison joined the school as part of my "Millennium Team" just after the start of the year 2000. She... didn't enjoy the work very much, and left soon after. My sources tell me she currently works for SHIELD, a spy organization as far as I can tell. Perhaps we can share our resources some day…

[ADMN_X/0515-2003]

_Miss Blaire _did_ wind up working as the liaison between SHIELD and the X-Men. Once both our organizations fell, she joined the more mundane law enforcement efforts of the FBI.

[ADMN_F/0220-2024]

_Dazzler had to resign from the FBI after the Isla Sinistra incident. She said it would make for less red tape anyway. Now she's living beith us at the Xavier Mansion. She and Mr. Wagner will be teaching some of the incoming students next month.

[ADMN_R/0408-2024]


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty awoke the next morning in strong need of coffee. She passed Laura on her way downstairs.

"Morning, Laura. You're up early."

"Hey, Kitty. I was just looking for you, mind if I ask some advice?"

She noticed Kitty's tired look.

"You feeling okay? Wild night at the Hideaway?"

"Hm? Oh! No, not in that way. It didn't go so great though. The staff is having some real disagreements about the direction we ought to take the school."

"Boring adult stuff, sounds like."

"There's a lot of that, when you grow up," Kitty muttered.

"Doesn't sound appealing. I think things were better when it was just us here."

"It was fun, but we needed to bring in more people eventually. Kurt and I could just about handle five mutants."

"True enough. But that's not actually what I wanted to bug you about. I'm kind of worried about Cecily."

"Ah," Kitty decided the coffee would have to wait. They took a seat in the stairwell.

Laura explained how their trip to Boston had gone the previous week.

"They shut her out, which isn't right. So why do I not feel right when I see her shut them out right back?"

"It's funny," Kitty eventually said. "Cecily was trying to convince Rachel to do the same thing with Cyclops a few months back. Open up to him. Wonder what changed?"

"She thinks it's a whole different thing. She's like that. Her problems are always smaller than yours. But it just makes me… arrgh!"

She punched the banister. Kitty put her hand across Laura's arm to motion for calm.

"Well, how_ do_ you feel? You think she should try to mend things with her family?

Laura shook a lock of hair in front of her face.

"It was always just me and Father on the road. Never really knew my mother, even. I never had a 'real' family. A mom, a dad, a house, 2.5 dogs, whatever the expression is. But she did. So I guess I feel like she shouldn't give up on hers that easily."

"It sounds like you already know what you should say," Kitty shot her a knowing look.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to say it _to her._ I'm not usually the responsible one."

The great tenor of the mansion's doorbell vibrated up the foyer.

"Hold that thought," Kitty said. "Really though - we should finish this conversation. It's great that you're looking out for your friend."

Laura was left alone in the stairwell.

* * *

She heard Kitty's voice call from inside the house.

"Coming!"

Kitty opened the door, and felt like she was hit with a brick.

On the step was a young woman in her mid twenties, with blonde hair framing her face in straight bangs. A pair of dark eyes looked up at Kitty expectantly from beneath the bangs. She wore a black tank top with a Pink Floyd print, and faded jeans despite the heat of the May afternoon.

Kitty blinked. She _knew_ this girl.

"Yana?"

"Hi, Kitty," she said softly.

Kitty quickly shut the door, as though the wooden structure would keep all the weirdness inside, and jumped down the stairs to give the girl a hug.

"Yana! Oh my gosh, hi!"

Illyana Raspopova was Kitty's best friend from college. She started during Kitty's second year, and the older girl took her under her wing. They had fallen out of touch in the last several months, the return of the X-Men playing no small role in that.

"It's great to see you, Yana! But things are really crazy right now. What are you even doing here?"

She flashed a small smile. "I was thinking about you recently. So I looked you up, found out you were teaching in New York. Only you're _not_ teaching, are you? I saw you on the internet! You're a superhero!"

_Uh oh._

"It's really kind of both," she stammered. "Er, I mean, aren't teachers the real superheroes? Hey, what are you talking about, anyway?"

"And what do you mean you _saw her on the internet_?" Emma's voice rose behind them. The psychic was hanging out of the doorway burning a hole through Kitty with her eyes.

"Uh oh," Kitty said again - aloud this time, realizing what that meant.

* * *

"Film! What kind of bloody hipster sod still uses _film_?"

Emma was pacing about before a library computer, enunciating every word with icy cruelty. The headline 'X-MEN SIGHTING IN BRAZIL' stretched across the monitor. Below it was a perfectly clear image of Kitty and Hisako rushing Bobby Da Costa out of a home.

"People still do that, she knows that, right?" Chris whispered to Doug Ramsey. Cypher had been called upstairs to evaluate the flaw in his facial obscuring technology.

"It was a calculated risk," Cypher replied. "The odds that someone would be in the area, with a camera, and at this favorable of an angle, are extraordinary. The photographer must be quite the hobbyist."

While all this went on Illyana sat to the side, watching intently. Kitty noticed her and wrangled the assembled mutants' attention.

"Hey, everyone, could we pause a moment before we traumatize my roommate?"

She turned back to Illyana.

"Illyana, I guess we should thank you. If you hadn't come to visit, we might not have found about these pictures until someone more dangerous used them."

"Oh, well thanks, I think."

Illyana was tempted to just leave it there. But she had come this far.

"But I didn't come just to see you. You see, I'm like you. I'm a mutant."

Kitty looked at her.

"What?"

"I'm a mutant," Illyana repeated. "I didn't know you were one in school, so I didn't tell you."

"But that's… that's crazy. We were together all that time and neither of us knew?"

"That certainly changes things," Emma said. "I was afraid I was going to have to wipe your memory and send you on your way. But you, a mutant, and a friend of Kitty's at that?"

"Small world," Cypher shook his head and smiled. This was much better conversation than wringing hands over a photograph.

The voice of Nightcrawler came from outside the library.

"Katzchen, I heard we had a visitor, that's…"

The fuzzly blue mutant had frozen in place when he saw Illyana.

"Everything alright, Kurt?"

"Y-yes. Sorry. I just… I… who is our guest?"

"Oh yeah," Kitty turned back to her friend.

"Illyana, this is Kurt Wagner, Kurt, Illyana Raspopova. She's a mutant, apparently, and my good friend from college."

"From college. Of course…" Kurt exhaled and his shoulders fell somewhat.

"Hello," Illyana giggled. "I remember Kitty talking about a boy named Kurt. Her description didn't quite, erm, do you justice, however."

"Ah yes," his normal grin returned as he shook hands with the girl. "I suppose she might have omitted a few things. Will you be staying with us long?"

"Actually, I was thinking she could stay with us for the summer," Kitty replied. "Dazzler has room in her class. She's got powers, but she hasn't been able to use them to their full extent. That is, if you would like that, Yana. I don't know what you have going on right now."

"Yes," Illyana nodded enthusiastically. "I have nothing going on. Being able to use my mutant abilities again would be great. I can help around here as well, if you need it."

"Then it's settled," Kitty clapped her hands. "Emma, would you draft up some papers for her?"

* * *

Kitty brought Illyana around for the introductions, then showed her to her room.

"Well this day sure was a surprise," Kitty chuckled.

"Not a bad one I hope," Illyana smiled.

"No. It was a great distraction from some recent goings on."

Illyana gave Lockheed a scratch on the chin.

"I don't know how you survived without this cute little guy," the blonde said.

"I got to visit him on holidays. Or those weekends I disappeared. He was my one tether to this world. I only wish I could have known you were part of it, too. I feel bad about having hidden it from you."

"Sometimes you don't have a choice," Illyana said sadly.

Lockheed cooed on her arm.

"He is a cutie, though."

* * *

"It's odd," Rachel said to no one in particular.

"What's that?" Hisako asked.

She motioned towards the third floor of the house, where Kitty and Illyana were catching up.

"There's something off about Miss Pryde's friend."

"Did you look in her head?"

"No. Just at her aura. Or tried to, anyway. That's the thing. I've never seen anyone who didn't have one. I've seen all sorts of different colored energies in people. But I don't see anything when I look at her."

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Cypher]

_Civilian Name: Douglas Ramsey

_Mutant Ability: Universal Language Comprehension

_Young Douglas' mutation is peculiar. Though he demonstrates neither the ability nor the inclination to engage in combat, his knack for understanding and interpreting language makes him not just an extraordinarily powerful mutant but perhaps one of the most powerful people on Earth, should he put his mind to it.

[ADMN_X/0822-2005]

_Douglas must have followed the Professor's advice, as he was working in a high-level analyst position with Homeland Security when we first made contact with him. He's a charming young fellow, though I wonder if that isn't just because he knows exactly what to say and when to say it…

[ADMN_F/0303-2024]

_Mr. Ramsey mainly uses his talent with languages to decipher the machine language of Cerebro. Much of its core programs were locked by code only Professor Xavier and Hank McCoy likely knew the ins and outs of. He's the one who first accessed these archives.

[ADMN_R/0130-2024]


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: To everyone still reading, thanks for being patient. October was a rough month for me, and by November I had developed the sort of legendary writer's block that results in you drafting two other stories before you can get through the chapter you were working on. But we're back on schedule now. Expect a double update this week or next weekend to make up for the long hiatus, and enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

"So, she doesn't have anything?"

"No. She's a psychic blank spot," Rachel explained.

Chris looked confused. "So, do you think that's her mutant power? She's telepathy proof?"

The two were in the school's dining hall, waiting for the others to join them.

Rachel shook her head.

"Well, I mean, I suppose. There's lots of mutants. I've seen weird, wild colors, and changing colors. But I've never seen anyone with _no_ colors. I'm not sure what I'm actually seeing when I look at the colors. It's like, the animus of their thoughts. Their heart, or their soul. Something like that. So how could someone be missing it?"

Laura and Cecily now joined them.

"Hisako will be a little late," Cecily told the others.

"She's really lost it for that angel guy in Class A," Laura snickered.

"You think so?" Chris certainly hadn't noticed anything different.

"Look who else decided to join her," the dark haired girl cocked her head towards the table where Warren and some of his friends were sitting, along with Hisako and Jubilee.

"So how did you learn to fly? It must have been _super_ interesting," Jubilee leaned over the table at the winged student.

"Yikes," Chris turned back to the other X-Men.

"Rachel was in the middle of telling me how the new girl Kitty put in Class C sketches her out."

"Hisako started telling us about it in the lunch line," Cecily nodded.

"If I could just… look in her mind," Rachel said slowly. She shook her head again. "But it's not a good habit, and she's Miss Pryde's friend."

Hisako returned to the table, and a chorus of pregnant glances from her classmates.

"What?" She shrugged. "He's cute, he's got wings, he's got boatloads of money. You can't blame a girl for trying."

"He must use more conditioner than I do to keep his hair that straight," Laura teased.

"Regardless of his hair care plans," Hisako said somewhat irritatedly, "you can hardly get a word in edgewise with Jubilee in the conversation. But enough about that. I was interrupting something?"

"Not really," Rachel conceded.

An idea played across Laura's mind.

"You could always… talk to your dad about it. Have you gotten a chance to really sit down with him since Sinistra?"

"Have I had chances? Sure. Have I taken them? No… not sure how."

"Well, maybe Cecily could help you. You were the one to first try to get those two to connect, eh, Cess?"

"Yeah, I did say that," Cecily pushed some carrots around her plate. "That was a few months ago."

"And now?"

"Now? I don't really think I'm up for family drama right now," she said more quietly than usual.

"Right," Laura sulked. _Back to the drawing boards._

* * *

Anna was eating lunch with Sam and Roberto. The two boys were older than her by a few years, but they didn't exactly act it.

"So you and Nightcrawler are related?" Bobby asked.

"But he's also your teacher?" Replied Sam.

"Yup. I was 'Mom's happy little accident.' Came much later than Kurt. So, he's been my guardian ever since we came to the States. Including _here._"

"Well, sorry if you don't get much sympathy from me," Sam said. "You have one brother, I have _four_. And six sisters."

"Who are all somewhere else for the next four months," Anna argued.

"Ah, to have had a family to bicker with," a voice came from behind them. "Alas, I grew up in the streets."

The voice came from the scruffy boy from Class B, who joined Anna and the boys at the table.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Rogue squinted at the boy.

"Of course, where are may manners?" The boy snapped his fingers. "Remy LeBeau. Pleasure to meet you, _cherie_."

"Uh... huh," the girl said, unconvinced by his accent.

"You two are X-Men to be, no?" Remy took a seat across from Sam and Bobby. "What's _that_ like?"

"Well, our teachers are… intense," Sam looked at Roberto.

"One of them can read our minds," Roberto looked back at him.

"We get in trouble… occasionally."

"You're Cajun, right?" Sam decided to change the subject. "How are you liking this part of the country?"

"Hm. Well the food doesn't hold a candle."

"Sounds about right," Sam shrugged.

"But the ladies! I would never speak ill of the fine women of New Orleans," Remy said half-seriously. "But I have a class with identical blonde triplets. Truly New York is a promised land."

"I guess they're okay," Sam muttered. "But they remind me of Miss Frost."

"You don't think Miss Frost is kinda hot?" Bobby asked, surprised.

"I think she's kinda _mean._"

"Which is _kinda hot!_" Bobby argued.

"You guys are gross," Anna rolled her eyes.

"The humidity is also much better here," Remy admitted.

On the other side of the dining hall, Illyana entered with her food. Remy tilted his head as he watched her cross the room.

"What do you suppose she _does?_"

Anna looked at him, then at the blonde. "Illyana? What do you mean?"

"Well, she isn't scaley, and she hasn't shot electricity from her wrists. She hasn't used her power at all. Even that Amara girl flicks a flame between her fingers sometimes. What sort of mutant do you suppose she is?"

"I don't use my powers either," Anna shrugged.

"And I don't know what sort of mutant _you_ are, either. You claiming to be some sort of dangerous weapon only heightens my interest."

"Well, you'll just have to stay curious," Anna squinted at him.

"And as for Illyana," she pointed to the clock.

"Our class is going in for our first Danger Room sesh this afternoon," Anna said. "We'll find out soon."

* * *

It was to be a joint training session between the basic and intermediate classes.

"Good morning," Danielle greeted the students as they arrived. "My name is Mirage. I'm the Danger Room coordinator, I'll be working with your teachers throughout your training."

"But we won't be going into full simulation just yet. Today we will be sparring with each other. With the help of your instructors, you'll be divided into small groups."

Dazzler and Rahne both waved.

"Our physical education adviser Blink will be on hand as well."

Clarice nodded at the students.

"Hi there, Elixir here," Joshua called out from the edge of the Danger Room he was leaning on. He gave the students a scout salute and stood upright.

"I'll be standing by, in case of emergency. Keep in mind that unchecked power can have unintended consequences."

Mirage clapped her hands. "Perfect. Let's get to it. Ms. Sinclair, if you would?"

"My pleasure," the Scottish mutant gave a quick stretch.

Rahne arched her back and bared her teeth. Then at once her whole body collapsed into the shape of a wolf.

"Ready when you are," Wolf-Rahne said.

Mirage willed a spear made of blue light into existence, gave it a toss in the air, and faced off with Rahne.

"The purpose of this exercise is not about knowing how to fight. It is about understanding how best to use the power you were given in any situation. I can generate a psionic object, anything one most desires."

Rahne lunged at her, only for the image of Mirage to dissolve. As the spear left its hand, the real Dani suddenly appeared, caught it, and then rapped the wolf on the tail with its blunt end.

"But I typically prefer the spear."

The students formed their groups. N'Ezhno wordlessly nodded to Mindee Cuckoo. Celeste attempted to pair with Phoebe, but Rahne made the two sisters choose other partners. The girls detested being apart. It interfered with their psychic rapport.

Dazzler was working personally with Amara.

"Okay Amara," she said to her young charge, "you've got fire problems."

"That's an understatement," the girl grumbled.

"The worst thing you can do with a power like yours is bottle it up. Fire under pressure can become an explosion. That's probably what happened in Boston, but you couldn't have realized it at the time."

Alison traced a circle of light around Amara.

"Try to make a little bit of fire. Just as small as you can.'

Amara rolled up her sleeves, and a few tiny embers formed between her fingers.

"Good," Alison smiled. "Now a little bigger. Whole hand, or maybe a forearm."

"Okay…" Amara took a breath and allowed the fire to spread. The roaring flames mad with difficult to move her arms, as if they were caught in some kind of current.

"It's hard to control," Amara strained. Familiar red cracks began forming in her arms. The edges of her Danger Room uniform began to smoke.

"Don't push yourself, this is day one," Dazzler said firmly.

Amara dropped the flames, but a rush of heat continued to pour out of her arms. The light circle around her rose to form a protective barrier, channeling the heat up. A red hot slurry formed in the cracks of her arms, which then cooled and flaked off.

"Interesting," Dazzler observed.

"Not fire. Magma."

* * *

"Hey, kid. It's Rogue, right?"

Anna turned in surprise to see Blink behind her.

"Hello, Ms. Ferguson. Miss Blaire says we aren't really doing names yet."

"It's cool with me. Dazzler tells me you're nervous about using your power?"

"It's more that I can't use it. It's too dangerous."

"Well, maybe I like to live dangerously. Try it on me."

"Wh-what?"

"Hit me with your best shot. We've got the most powerful healer - maybe in the world - over there. As long as you don't have a Death Touch I think I'll be good. I've been doing this a bit longer than you."

"Well, it's funny you mention touch. Because… that's where it comes from." She held up her arm.

"When I touch someone, they go numb. Sometimes they even lose consciousness. It's only bare skin, so these gloves keep everyone safe."

"So you wear those all the time?" Blink asked.

"Whenever I'm out. I haven't made direct contact with Kurt or my mother since I first discovered what my hands could do."

"Geez. Well, let's figure this out. Take 'em off."

"And you're sure."

"Trust me."

Anna stared at her hand. She wore her gloves so often that the skin beneath looked almost foreign to her. But she felt she could trust Clarice. She removed a glove and nodded at the purple haired woman.

"So, what, do you just poke me, or?"

Rogue thrust her open palm onto Blink's exposed shoulder. The effect was immediate.

Blink gasped silently and fell to her knees. Rogue immediately withdrew her hand and recoiled from the teacher, drawing the attention of the other students.

"What's going on?" Elixir came running.

"It was a test, she asked me to do it!" Anna shouted. She looked different now. The white streak in her hair was a deep purple, and her eyes were solid green, as Blink's were. Her hands crackled with violet energy.

"This isn't what normally happens," she whispered in a panic.

"Not to worry, Clarice, I'll have you up in a jiffy," Joshua murmured to the unmoving woman. "Stay calm, Anna. I'll tend to you after."

"Whoa," Jubilee breathed. "What did you do to her?"

"I told you, my power only hurts people!" Rogue threw up her hands. When she did, a ragged tear in the air above her opened. At the same time, a ring of purple light formed around Jubilee's feet, which immediately opened a hole under the girl.

"Ack!" Jubilee now found herself falling down on top of Rogue through the new portal, the two girls collapsing in a heap together.

"Ugh. Get off of me. Hurry!" Anna shouted.

All around the Danger Room, small portals were beginning to open, linking various parts of the room to one another.

"I feel funny…" Jubilee slurred. Part of her ankle had come in contact with Rogue's hand.

Portals were still opening and shutting at alarming rates, but now as they closed they burst into colorful blasts of fire.

Illyana jumped in front of Amara, a sphere of billowing green smoke in each hand. Making a few small, quick motions with her fingers and mouthing some unheard words, Illyana sent the smoke orbs colliding with the sparklers, dissipating each other with a multi-throated hiss.

"What in God's name..." Wolfsbane whispered as she saw the trails of smoke hanging in the air.

"Hey, look out!" Amara called out to Illyana.

Two portals opened quite close to one another just in front of Illyana. she winced and summoned a silvery barrier over her arm, an attempt to shield herself from the blast. The portals snapped shut before she could do anything else, and the girl was blasted across the Danger Room.

Rogue was too lost in the chaos to see Blink rise from the ground behind her. Extending her arms outwards, the cacophony of portals all closed at once, returning the Danger Room to its original state. Rogue groaned, then collapsed.

The students exhaled with relief. The Cuckoo sisters quickly reformed their tight formation.

Illyana was on the ground on the other side of the Danger Room. Groggy, she noticed an arm extended out towards her. It was Amara, the girl she had rushed to protect earlier.

"Thanks for that," she said quietly. She helped Illyana to her feet.

"Likewise," Illyana said grabbing her wrist.

N'Ezhno and Jubilee stood over Anna. Elixir gave her a cursory glance.

"Will she be alright?" The boy asked.

"Help me get her back to the infirmary, I'll pull Triage out of class and we'll check her over. Miss Lee, are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Jubilee said, a little more deflated than usual. "A little thirsty."

"Interesting…" Blink said to herself. The teacher was sitting on the ground, recovering. She may have blown this whole problem wide open...

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Mirage]

_Civilian Name: Danielle Moonstar

_Mutant Ability: Telempathy, Psionic Conjuration

_I wish that I had had a bit more time to work with young Danielle. Her powers are a sort of telepathy, but they take a much different form than Jean's or my own. She possesses an innate knowledge of what people around her fear and desire, and with time she could hone that into quite a power. She currently uses it to rather limited effect, creating tools and weapons to aid her in simulations.

[ADMN_X/12012010]

_Miss Moonstar is a Cheyenne Native American. She'd been working with her people ever since the school closed, until we sent her the invitation. She recently wrote us back, she'll be joining us in the new year after finishing up her goodbyes.

[ADMN_R/12282023]

_Danielle's Danger Room records show that maintaining the immersion of the simulations proved difficult to the young empath. I suppose being able to create illusions of your own would have that side effect. I'll recommend to Kitty that she be considered to direct our training program there.

[ADMN_F/01052024]


	6. Chapter 6

Anna's eyes opened. She had an audience. Jubilee, N'Ezhno, Elixir, and Triage were all waiting at her bedside.

"Welcome back, Miss Wagner," Joshua smiled.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We helped the doctors get you here," N'Ezhno said.

"Your friends were kinda worried after you went down," Chris added. "We also wanted to make sure Jubilee was okay after, you know, what happened."

_Friends?_ Anna thought. The idea didn't seem so bad.

"But what did happen? I don't remember much of anything after I touched Miss Ferguson."

"I think I can answer that."

She turned with a start. Blink herself had been resting in a chair with a warm compress over her eyes on the other side of Anna's room.

"Yeah, I'm here. Dani is getting me some coffee. Which I need. Badly."

"Blink, I'm so sorry," Rogue immediately started pleading.

"Calm down," Clarice motioned with her hand. "Too much noise. Besides, I've got an important question for you, Rogue."

"Yes?"

"Before today, had you ever touched another mutant before?"

She thought about it for a moment.

"I haven't touched hardly anyone since I started with my powers. But I guess I couldn't say who was and wasn't a mutant at the time."

"Bingo. You're a sponge."

"I'm a what?"

"Eh, there's probably a proper term for it. I'm not in a creative frame of mind right now. You mentioned you haven't made contact with your mom or your brother, and that's why you didn't find out sooner."

As if summoned, Kurt now rushed into the infirmary with Alison just behind.

"Hey bro," Anna waved.

"Oh, _Gott sei Dank_ you're alright!" Kurt exclaimed.

"We had a bit of a scare, Nightcrawler," Blink motioned for calm. "Jubilee got caught up in it too."

"What on Earth did you three get into?" Kurt leaned in towards Anna.

"I believe Miss Ferguson was just enlightening us," Elixir said, gesturing at the purple haired woman with his gloved hand.

Clarice nodded.

"You have a very particular power," Blink said thoughtfully, "that allows you to absorb and take on the powers of others. You must be sapping their energy somehow, thus the naps all your "victims" take. A sponge."

"Her body also changed when she touched you," Jubilee remembered. "She got your eyes, and your hair color."

"Hmm," Clarice closed her eyes.

"My mutation has physical aspects, I suppose they were part of the transfer."

Rogue was still processing what she was hearing.

"So when I touched you… I stole your powers?"

"That's the basic idea of it. Although I still had my powers when Josh got me up. So it's not quite a one way street."

"It sounds like you figured out a lot," Alison was impressed.

"What I can't figure out is _her_," Blink pointed at Jubilee.

"Me?"

"You. She touched me and I was out like a light. You touched her and got a mild hangover. Uh, you're like 16, right? You'll understand later I guess."

"I have a pretty good idea," Jubilee held her head. "But you're thinking that the way I reacted to Anna is different than the way you did... For a reason?"

"Yeah. Could be based on our powers. Or age. Further study required."

* * *

At the end of the week, Scott Summers entered the infirmary. He was looking for Kitty, but found Rachel and the Cuckoos instead.

"Oh. Hello girls. What are you doing here?"

"Spotting Miss Pryde for her workout," Rachel said shortly. "Well, I am, anyway."

"We're bonding with other students," the Cuckoos said together.

"Miss Frost says it will benefit us," Celeste said.

"That's very good," Scott said. "Four powerful telepaths could be quite the team."

"Mhm," Rachel looked at her father expectantly, as though she were waiting for him to finish his business and leave.

They were all standing around a large cylindrical tank of water. Kitty was floating in the middle of it, staying very still.

"She's training her endurance," Phoebe said, likely not needing to read Scott's mind to guess his confusion.

"Miss Pryde can remain phased into something as long as she can hold her breath," Rachel explained. "So she practices in this tank to expand her lungs and diaphragm."

"Is she… almost done?" Scott asked.

"No," all four girls said at once.

After an awkward pause, Kitty came up for air.

"Well isn't this quite the audience," she mused as she looked over the edge of the tank.

Scott cleared his throat.

"Kitty, I was hoping you could help me. It's about Emma."

Rachel frowned and busied herself elsewhere in the lab.

"I'm not sure how much help I could be if it isn't a professional thing. Me and Emma are still in a… complicated place, if you've forgotten."

"I just need you talk to her. It wouldn't mean the same thing coming from me. The rift with the other staff is becoming worse. The whole secrecy thing."

Kitty lifted herself out of the water and jumped down to ground level.

"Right. And she might be out of luck if she's looking for someone to agree with her. But, let's say I do. What could I say to make her feel better? We're not dating. You two are."

"Miss Frost could ask Mister Summers to agree with her," Mindee offered.

"He agrees all the time," Phoebe said.

"Like on their shopping trips," Celeste finished.

"Girls, could you maybe excuse us?" Scott asked. Once the triplets had exited, he continued.

"Sure, I could tell her that nothing is wrong, and that it will be okay. We tell each other that sort of thing a lot. But that's why it wouldn't mean as much coming from me. You've influenced her more than you know, bringing her into the school like this."

"Hmm," was all Kitty said. Then she reached for a towel.

"I'm the headmistress. Better go headmister something."

The two teachers left the infirmary, while Rachel watched them from afar. She silently chastised herself for remaining silent.

* * *

"Strange though the arrangement may be," Emma poured a glass of iced tea for Kitty, "You are my boss. And given our shared past you stand uniquely capable of telling me when I'm being an ass."

The two women were in Emma and Scott's room, a converted double dorm room on the second floor. The transformation Emma had worked upon it was something to behold. One wall had been repainted to a tasteful Chardonnay backsplash, and the light fixtures had been updated with crystal globes and desktop lamps. Two pairs of equally tall, equally ornamented silver and white heels were arranged neatly by one of the closets. A small corner of the room had a set of weights and a few framed photos, a sign that yes, Scott lived here too.

Kitty pondered Emma's words for a moment.

"You put Kurt in a cage when I was a little girl, maybe his opinion would count for something."

"Kurt is too much of a sweetheart to let sleeping dogs do anything other than lie," Emma smiled wryly. "He'd bring them a pillow and an herbal tea to help them sleep better. You have made it clear that you feel differently."

"I've vouched for you personally on occasion," Kitty said defensively. "I wouldn't kid myself and say that I'd be able to manage the books on this place without you. But honestly, I don't think I can get behind the Statutes of Secrecy thing."

"Perhaps it's still the Club talking," Emma said sadly. "I fear what the humans will do to us if they learn that a secret world of enhanced individuals was living under their noses, because I know what those sorts of societies can do."

"And I get that," Kitty said. "But look at it the other way: if somebody slips up, if they discover us themselves, will their reaction be better? Worse? I think that's what Polaris and Dazzler have been getting at. Look at Wakanda. They imagine that somebody from the US Government found their operation and outed them to the whole world. I don't think they would have the bargaining power to share their stuff with the world if that happened. It tends to be more of a taking than a giving relationship."

"I suppose you have a point. I still don't like it. But I can let it be. For now."

"Just focus on your students, keep the peace with Lorna, and try to lighten up a little. We don't need to decide the date of all mutantkind this summer."

They heard a man clear his throat outside. Scott was leaning on the doorway.

"Everything all set?"

"Yeah, we're finishing up here. It was a good talk," Kitty added.

"Good. I've just had a word with the team, they're getting ready downstairs. I think we'll run the Broxton Scenario today. Laura and Rachel will take point."

He vanished from the doorframe again.

Kitty sighed. "Okay. Now that I've helped you, I think you ought to help me. I need to arrange a chat with your boyfriend."

* * *

Anna and Jubilee ran into one another once again in the restroom after class. They hadn't spoken since Anna left the infirmary, but now, as she washed her hands, she turned to Jubilee.

"It sounds like they want us to train together," Rogue said hesitantly.

"Sounds like it," Jubilee echoed her tone.

"Well, I just wanted say thanks, for what you and N'Ezhno did earlier this week. I try not to get close to people so they don't get hurt by my mutation. So it's nice to have someone other than Kurt who…"

"Who cares?"

"Yeah well, let's not make it too sappy," Anna laughed.

"Well gosh, Anna. We couldn't just leave you on the floor. Even if you didn't seem like you liked us much."

"I don't really act that way on purpose," Anna simled sadly. "I know this thing I do scares people, so I don't even try to convince them otherwise."

"It must have been scarier for you down in the Danger Room than it was for us."

"Hey, I never said I was scared of anything."

Jubilee laughed.

"Okay, brave girl. Why don't you and I go into the city this weekend? I find that retail therapy usually helps when I'm feeling down!"

"I can't imagine what you 'feeling down' looks like," Rogue said dryly.

"Blame my parents. With a name like 'Jubilation' you kind of have to keep the brand up."

Anna finished washing her hands and threw her paper towel away. The two girls exited, chatting about their plans for the weekend.

Nobody was around to see the trash can spit the paper towel back out with a loud belch.

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Elixir]

_Civilian Name: Joshua Foley

_Mutant Ability: Healing and Biological Manipulation, Omega-Level

_Joshua once tried to heal my legs. Indeed, I believe if there was anything wrong with them physically, he worked wonders on alleviating them. But my confinement to this chair goes far deeper than that. How do you treat the psychosomatics of a telepath of my talents? I'm powerless to override my own mind.

After the school closed, I followed Joshua's career intently. He studied anatomy for several years, and then took himself into the most grisly of situations to test the limits of his bioregenerative powers. From what my sources report, he has yet to find them. Making Elixir the newest member of the Omega List was an easy decision.

[ADMN_X/1119-2019]

_None of the Professor's records mention anything about Mr. Foley's left hand. But he always keeps it in that glove, or under his coat. I wonder if he hurt himself? But then, couldn't he just heal it right back?

[ADMN_R/0423-2024]

_Healing mutations are not entirely uncommon. They come in several varieties: regenerative healing factors, like Laura and Logan before her, which apply to the self; and restorative powers, like Christopher and Joshua, which can be extended to others. Elixir, in his time, was considered one of the best of the latter.

[ADMN_F/0422-2024]


	7. Chapter 7

Rahne Sinclair and Jonathan Proudstar were watching their students take recess in the yard.

"That girl, Illyana, does she seem _off_ to you?"

"In what way?"

"Well for one thing, she's a student but she's practically old enough to teach here. Look at our headmistress."

"The whole school dynamic has changed since Xavier died. The teachers are younger, the students are older. You're starting to sound all get-off-my-lawny," Thunderbird laughed.

"That's not really what I mean. She's got an awfully good handle on her powers for someone enrolled in this school. And the powers! Have you ever seen a mutation like that?"

"Rahne, I'm a bulletproof bloodhound, you're a werewolf, and we both went to school with much weirder folks than us. I reckon there's a lot of mutations I've never seen."

"But this power, the energies, the shapes, the... the scents! Don't tell me you haven't picked up on them too. It gives me the willies," Rahne shivered. "Like the witches my mam used to tell me stories about."

"She may give you 'the willies,' but she's still one of our students. Does that responsibility intimidate you?"

"Of course not. But I'm a woman of faith. Such things we're taught to be wary of."

"And does Kurt not also share your faith? His mutation doesn't find much favor in your teachings either."

"That's different!"

"It isn't!" Jonathan laughed again, this time humorlessly. "We're all mutants, aren't we? If we start judging one another we'll be no better than the humans. So try to keep those thoughts to yourself."

* * *

For her part, Illyana was quickly making friends around the school. She spent a lot of time with Kitty when the young headmistress wasn't busy (which wasn't often), but word of her heroics in the Danger Room travelled fast. She gravitated towards the unlikely group of Sam and Roberto. The three enjoyed wandering the expanse of woods behind the mansion when they weren't in class.

"I hope you don't mind me hanging out with you," Illyana said one day.

"Why would we? You're pretty cool," Sam shrugged.

"Well, I realize that I'm a fair bit older than you. I wouldn't want to cramp your style."

"You don't act that much older," Bobby said.

"Compared to like, Blink and Shadowcat," Sam continued.

"Well, I had sort of a nontraditional upbringing. I didn't get to do anything like this. This… place, these woods, all the students. I just want to be a part of it all."

"I'm from farm country," Sam said. "Big, open, flat. You'd have to drive a pretty good distance to find big stands of trees like this."

Roberto lifted his hand and illuminated the thicket.

"This is all very different for me too. This time last year, I was still down in Brazil with my family. I wasn't mutant yet… but there's a lot to do here. And we're gonna do it all."

* * *

Two more weeks passed, and the students continued their training. The staff looked to the upcoming Open House at the end of the month. But Kitty never had her conversation with Scott she had warned Emma about.

Not that she didn't want to, mind you. With every passing lesson she felt less like a leader and more like a sidekick. Before too long she would reach a breaking point...

Amara and Alison were getting to the bottom of the young girl's powers. Her pyrokinesis was the product of magma generated below the surface of her skin. The trick was bringing it out without triggering an "eruption," as had happened in Boston.

When Dazzler wasn't working with Amara, she stopped by to lend Blink a hand as well. Clarice had become Jubilee and Rogue's main instructor during training days. Sure enough, Anna's power copying extended to Alison's light projection powers as well.

Rogue's powers seemed to work best with energy-based mutants. Testing with Wolfsbane and Thunderbird had resulted in more feelings of faintness and nausea, while Alison's were much more reduced. Jubilee, perhaps because of her youth, proved to be the most receptive to the process.

Today they were continuing to allow Jubilee and Rogue to maintain contact for longer periods of time. It seemed that the more contact she made, the more power Anna absorbed from her. They were trying for a full 15 seconds.

It was certainly a strange procedure for the girls. Jubilee could actually feel a dull tingle traveling from her neck and shoulders down her arms to where her hands met Anna's.

The white streak in Rogue's hair - a peculiar mark she had carried since birth - was filling in jet black.

"How are you feeling, Anna?"

"I'm great! Let's keep it going!" Her usual southern twang had largely disappeared. She froze in horror.

"Haha, what the heck is going on?"

"You must have absorbed some of Jubilee's brain too," N'Ezhno theorized. The Wakandan was a strict pacifist, and had opted out of most of the school's usual training methods. He found Anna's plight quite interesting, though, and often accompanied Jubilee and Rogue to their sessions.

Jubilee frowned.

"You're messing with me. I don't actually sound like that. Do I?"

"That... actually might be what happened, Nez," Blink realized.

"I'm in Hell!" Rogue said cheerfully.

"But like, only one element of her personality."

N'Ezhno looked nervous. "Of course. I would never insinuate that you were so single-mindedly joyful."

"I think we should probably avoid any longer periods of contact. She might actually turn into you if we let you do it for too long."

* * *

The next day, Illyana, Sam, and Bobby were surveying a clearing in the woods. They knew, vaguely, that Emma and Kitty intended on building a new dorm somewhere in the area, and were now imagining what it would look like.

"Maybe when we're X-Men, Miss Frost will put our headquarters out here," Bobby tried imagining a large common area with a pool and an arcade.

"I'm just hoping for some more comfortable mattresses," Illyana commented. "I think they're the only things they didn't update since -"

She stopped in her tracks. A powerful sensation overcame her. The breath caught in her throat, and she stumbled.

"Whoa, you okay?" Sam asked.

"Oh no," Illyana whispered. "I'm in deep shit."

* * *

The front doors of the mansion swung open wide, and a tall, dark-skinned woman strode through them. A mane of snow-white hair flowed behind her. She looked around. The sound of a gum bubble popping drew her attention to Jubilee, who was otherwise paralyzed in the woman's blue eyed gaze.

"Child. Where are your teachers?"

Jubilee swallowed her gum instinctively.

"Um, I can go get one. How did you get in here?"

"I know my way around this place. Go - now."

* * *

A few minutes later Kurt came inside to meet the "scary lady" Jubilee had announced the arrival of. But then he saw who it was.

A basketball dropped to the floor as trembling three-fingered hands made the sign of the cross over his body.

"Stay your hand, Nightcrawler. I am no spirit," the woman said. For Ororo Munroe knew his name.

"I'm real."

_NEXT: How many mutants is one mutant too many?_

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Thunderbird]

_Civilian Name: Jonathan Proudstar

_Mutant Ability: Superhuman Strength and Durability, Tracking

_While the school has closed, the mutants remain. I have faith that, should the worst occur, the new heroes, these 'Avengers,' will come to the aid of any in need, mutant or otherwise. But there must always be contingencies. That is why I selected Jonathan to lead a small band of mutants off the radar of the authorities to keep watch over what threats may skip through the cracks.

[ADMN_X/0921-2012]


	8. Chapter 8

Minutes Earlier

Scott climbed the stairs to the second floor, where the headmaster's quarters were.

"Oh man, you've really fixed this place up," he said as he entered Kitty's room. "Xavier had good taste for most things, but his furniture was _very_ old."

"Yeah, it didn't feel right to keep some of the stuff after he was gone," Kitty held her arm. She had at last mustered the courage to invite the veteran X-Men to this meeting, and now they were talking furniture.

"I actually need to talk to you about something, Scott."

"Um, sure. Is it about the team?" Scott struggled to imagine what else they could discuss together.

"Yes, actually."

Kitty gulped. Rachel looked from her father to her instructor. She had rarely ever been so tempted to read what was going on in their minds.

"Okay, look. You probably don't need me to tell you that you're very good at this whole 'leadership' thing."

"Heh. Thank you. But I'm not out to prove anything."

"Well that's just it, actually," Kitty started to say.

But then they all heard Nightcrawler down in the foyer, shouting.

"_Mein Gott_, everyone!"

* * *

"Everyone get down here!"

Standing in the foyer of the Xavier Mansion was Ororo Munroe, the African mutant and founding member of the school known to her allies as Storm. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips in an amused look.

"The others will be so excited! We thought you were gone for good!"

"Haven't I proved that I'm a difficult one to get rid of?" Storm crossed her arms. "Though in this case it was certainly close."

"But how? And where are the others?"

"In good time, Nightcrawler."

* * *

Illyana creeped into the house, Sam and Bobby following with confused looks.

"I don't get it, Illyana. What's got you so spooked?"

"When I came here, Bobby, I wasn't strictly allowed to do so. One could say I was… expressly forbidden from doing so."

"I knew there was a reason we liked you," Sam said.

"If… _they've_ come to collect me, I'm in trouble."

"Then why are we getting closer?"

"...I don't know."

* * *

Scott and Kitty came down the stairs now, with Rachel lagging behind.

"What the Hell?" Scott's eyes went wide as saucers beneath his red glasses. "Ororo?"

"Hello, Cyclops."

"But that's…" his words trailed off. "How are you here?"

"I know my appearance must come as a shock to you all," the white-haired woman admitted. "I wish we would have reunited under other circumstances."

She caught site of Illyana peering at her from the other side of a doorframe.

"Illyana!" Ororo called after her authoritatively.

Kitty's blood froze at the familiarity of her tone.

"Child, you should not have come here."

Illyana became surprisingly sullen.

"I'm sorry Ororo," Illyana sniffed. "I just thought-"

"It _is_ you, after all!" Kurt cut her short. "How in all the worlds did you return?"

"This can't be possible," Scott muttered, finally finding the word he sought before. "I should have known if anyone could survive that it was you, 'Ro."

"How do you all know each other?"

The gathered mutants turned to Kitty. The headmistress's face was pale.

"Katzchen," Kurt started.

"Not right now, Kurt. I need to know. I've had this feeling, that something wasn't right. There's something you aren't telling me."

Illyana looked back and forth between Kitty and Storm.

"Yana," Kitty approached the blonde girl.

"Miss Pryde, wait."

This time it was Rachel who stopped Kitty.

"Rachel?"

The young redhead's eyes burned.

"I don't like this. Ever since she arrived Illyana has been a dark spot in my psychic vision. I can't see her energy. And she's the same way," she pointed at Storm.

"She has the same invisible aura as Illyana."

Illyana pleaded with Kitty, shaking.

"Kitty, I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to go this way."

"Are you even real?" Kitty's voice caught in her throat. "Is this some sort of hallucination?"

"I think I owe everyone an explanation," Ororo said, her voice audible above the growing chaos. "We just need to calm down."

"Someone needs to start explaining _something_," Kitty no longer kept herself from shouting. She turned to her friend - or who she thought was her friend.

"Who even are you?"

Illyana was unable to look Kitty in the eyes at first. She turned to Ororo, who nodded for her to continue.

"I attended school with the last name Raspopova. My _real_ name is Illyana Rasputin. Since you were familiar with the X-Men, you would know my brother Piotr Nikoleyavich, Colossus.'

"You… and Peter…" Kitty was rapidly losing her cool.

"She's one of us, Katherine," Ororo walked between the two women. "In fact, she's the key to everything."


	9. Chapter 9

"I moved to this country when I was just a girl, after Piotr had already joined the school."

Kitty had called a faculty meeting in the sitting room with the X-Men and teachers to hear what Storm and Illyana had to say. Lockheed was curled up on the carpet in front of the blonde woman as she began her story.

"The professor made the arrangements to bring her over," Ororo explained. "Their parents weren't thrilled that both their children were leaving them, but they were excited by the opportunity for them to receive an education in America."

"I was never fully enrolled here though," Illyana continued. "My mutant power hadn't manifested, so I was to attend nearby schools until I was old enough. I still visited on occasion, however."

Kitty racked her brain to recall if she had ever seen a golden-haired girl in the halls when she was a student. But she would have asked about her if she had.

"One day, I was invited over to watch Piotr train. He was always busy, so it was often my only chance to see him.

"I'm not really sure what happened. I was in the basement near the Danger Room, and I heard a sound. It was a voice, I thought, calling my name. Nobody else heard. I don't know why, but I followed it. I chased the sound down the hall, and then down, and down, and it got darker and darker, until I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or closed. And then suddenly I was in a field of flowers."

Storm nodded.

"This felt like moments to her, but in our world it was almost two days. Once we discovered that Illyana had gone missing, we discovered an energy spike in the subbasement. A portal to another place. The Professor tapped into his list of contacts and we divised a way to reopen this portal and go after Illyana."

"He even got Magneto to come," Scott interjected. "Apparently he still has a soft spot for children."

Lorna smiled joylessly.

"The plan was to send a small team in first," Storm said, directing a look at Scott to suggest everyone return their attention to her.

"Beast, Magneto, and I would locate the girl. The rest would come across to help us extract her. Colossus, however, was adamant about joining us once he learned where his sister was being held."

"And where was that, exactly?" Kitty spoke for the first time in a while.

"It's called Limbo," Illyana said, exhaling deeply.

"A nightmare landscape full of demons and dark magics, all lorded over by their master - Belasco."

Kitty's face paled again. Of all the things Illyana could have said, she would never have guessed that one.

Storm looked between the two young women, and shook her head sadly.

"Once we were in we found Belasco in no time at all."

* * *

_"Welcome to Hell."_

_The X-Men emerged into a cavern vaulting high above them, so that stalactites hung down through a layer of blighted clouds that obscured the ceiling. In the middle of a field of dead flowers was Belasco, with Illyana standing petrified just behind._

_"Please, Belasco. I've been to Hell," Magneto said. "Yours doesn't impress me."_

_"You're too late," Belasco sneered. He held up his hand, the clear gem now stained a deep red._

_"She is already mine."_

_Storm's hands crackled with lightning._

_"We shall see about that."_

_Beast and Colossus charged the demonic figure while Storm and Magneto took to the air._

_"There is metal here," Erik closed his eyes. "Old and tainted, but metal just the same."_

_"Then it will hail iron and rain light in this dark place today," Ororo replied._

_"Any port in a storm," the older man muttered._

* * *

_Beast lashed out with his claws at their horned adversary._

_"What a strange monster you are," Belasco said thoughtfully. Then he grinned. "You'll be in good company here."_

_From the edges of the meadow came baying and hissing of an army of infernal creatures. _

_"I'm flattered," Hank called out as he charged again. "But I'm afraid my social engagements for the week are already filled rescuing small children from pink devil men. I can pencil in ''raving monster club" for next month, however."_

_Flanking Belasco, Colossus grabbed the demon king in a bear hug and began to squeeze his mighty metal arms._

_"Ah, and then there's... ack! The Knight in Shining Armor, come to rescue the little princess from her darkest despair."_

_Belasco exploded in green and violet flame, sending Piotr reeling. When his vision returned, the demon hoard had surrounded the two brawny mutants._

_"You'll soon find your definition of despair to be quite... unimaginative," Belasco's incorporeal voice floated down._

_Beast ran to help his comrade._

_"Pete! Are you still with us?"_

_"Da. I am unharmed. But the fiend has escaped."_

_Above their heads a swarm of metal shrapnel speared through a host of winged demons._

_"Magneto and Storm fight well together," Colossus observed._

_"Indeed. Just like the bad old days," Beast replied. "I think we ought to stow the banter for now and focus on this ghoulish squad, however."_

_"Da."_

_Piotr delivered a mighty uppercut to a goatlike creature, sending it tumbling to the ground in many pieces._

_Illyana watched the battle escalate before her. That heat in her head turned to a sharp pain as she was momentarily enraptured by the violence_. _But it soon passed, leaving her ruled by desperate fear once again._

* * *

_Storm raced along through the skies of Limbo, raining bolt after bolt of lightning onto Belasco's horde, carpeting the battlefield in death. She slammed into the ground and tossed a dozen demons into the site on a galeforce updraft._

_"You are an accomplished sorceress," Belasco clapped his hands together deliberately as he strolled through the piles of slain demons. "This is my realm, however. And my magic is supreme."_

_"These are no parlor tricks, Belasco," Storm strode forward confidently. "I serve the elements: sky and cloud, wind and weather! Your foul sorceries will not avail you!"_

_"Perhaps a demonstration is in order then!" The demon's cape was tossed aside by plumes of billowing energy. __The Lord of Limbo launched a crimson bolt of bizarre energy at Storm, the blast momentarily staggering her. She returned to the air; however, undeterred._

_"My turn," she exclaimed, wiping a trail of blood from her lip. Ororo lifted her arms above her head, gathering a head of clouds and willing them to begin sparking with lightning. Belasco lost sight of the weather goddess in the mounting thunderstorm, but he remained where he stood, eyes closed and a satisfied, toothless smile on his face._

_"Smile while you can, monster!" Storm cried, and she let loose her blast of lightning._

_The clouds dissipated almost as quickly as they had formed, and the lightning bounced impotently off of Belasco's cape._

_"What is this?" Ororo exclaimed, looking at her fizzling hands._

_Another eldritch bolt of energy struck Storm, sending the white haired woman careening to the ground._

_"Ororo! Are you alright? Get up!"_

_"We're losing ground, Erik. We need to reach the others!"_

_A half dozen demons dogpiled on the weather goddess, and she was lost from view._

_Magneto took a deep breath, removed his helmet, and reached out with his mind._

_"Jean! Can you hear me? Ororo is failing. We're meeting heavy resistance. Send in the reinforcements!"_

_"Oh no," Belasco's smile was legendarily cruel. "You've barely seen all that Limbo has to offer!"_

_Magneto could do nothing as he watched the portal blink out in front of him, the light extinguished by the arrival of hordes of yet more demons._

_At last the terror in Illyana's mind shattered Belasco's hold on her spirit, and the girl bolted towards the edge of the wilted meadow._

_The mound of demons swarming Ororo burst with lightning and the woman emerged, drenched in charcoal grey ichor._

_"Illyana!" She shouted as she sighted the girl fleeing the scene._

_"Go after the girl," Erik boomed from on high. "I will tend to Doctor McCoy and the boy."_

_She said a small prayer to anyone that could still hear her, and vaulted back up into the sky. The winds pushed her beyond the speed that the little girl could run, closing their distance quickly._

* * *

_"Rise, Henry. We are retreating."_

_Beast groaned, his fur matted and singed in various places._

_"Sounds good to me."_

_"Not to me," Piotr said gruffly. His uniform was torn and his metal exterior bore a scuff marks across the forehead._

_"We need to end Belasco. Now."_

_"Colossus, now is not the time."_

_"What other time will we have? He took my sister! You can run if you want, I'm going after that fiend!"_

_"I am not Charles Xavier," Magneto said, grabbing the metal warrior with his magnetic power and tossing him across the field. _

_"And I do not ask twice."_

* * *

_Illyana screamed as the ground beneath her gave out, and she tumbled over the edge of the meadow into the chasm ringing the area._

_Storm dove, the fleeting air currents barely keeping her aloft now, and snatched up the small child in her arms. They descend further down the chasm, out of site of the horde. Belasco's voice thundered down from the field as he searched for the mutants._

_"Illyana? Illyana! Run if you must, but you belong to me, child! There is nowhere else for you to go!"_

_Magneto followed close behind, carrying Beast at his side, and slowing all three of their descents with his powers._

_"We cannot stay here long," Colossus looked up towards where they jumped. "This Belasco person will know all the paths."_

_"I don't want to stay," Illyana cried._

_"Don't cry anymore. I have you, child," Storm said to the girl. And though Illyana was never happier to see Ororo, in the pit of her stomach something recoiled from her touch._

_"But who has us?" Beast asked. "You saw the portal close. How are we going to get back?"_

_"I… don't think we're going back," the realization dawned on the woman._

* * *

_In the Danger Room, the other X-Men were still staring at the spot where their portal once yawned into Limbo._

_"Professor," Scott said finally. "What do we do?"_

_"We're going back for them. Open the portal back up, Chuck."_

_"Logan," Jean started._

_"Don't give me that 'Logan,' Jeanie. We have to go back for them. Charles, open it up."_

_Xavier did not say anything. He was leaning forward in his chair, eyes wide and mouth partially open._

_"Charles, what are you doing?"_

_He bowed his head. Logan grabbed the man by his shirt collar and shook him._

_"CHARLES!"_


	10. Chapter 10

"You were our responsibility, and we failed you," Kurt finished sadly. "The team didn't last much longer after that."

"Logan was disgusted that we couldn't go back for you," Scott said. "He was the first to leave. And with Jean pregnant, she and I both had more important commitments to keep."

Emma and Rachel both looked at their feet.

"But before Jean joined me, Xavier asked her to help him prepare… some sort of mass psychic event. She had this remarkable telepathic power, and he wasn't too far behind. Together they erased everyone's memories of mutantkind. The Brotherhood, the X-Men, all of it. And the demons were swept away with them."

"That part I've heard once or twice," Kitty kneaded her temples. "That doesn't explain how Storm and Illyana are sitting here with us today."

"I can take it from here," Ororo gestured.

"We were trapped, all of us, in Limbo. Gradually, that place began to drain and alter our powers. Hank's wit began to dull even as his claws began to sharpen. Peter… was strange ng for Illyana. His metal shell seemed to stave off the worst of it, but he became distant.

"My change was different still. My mutation gives me power over the natural elements of the world. But the natural elements of Limbo are not things such as wind and water, as they are here. Limbo is governed by mysticism and chaos. So as the weather ceased to heed my call, new forces answered. I gained control of the wild magics of Limbo.

"And as for Magneto? He went off on his own not long into our imprisonment. To find another way out, perhaps. I have not seen him for quite some time."

Storm held up her hand, and a violet crackle of energy weaved through her fingertips.

"The taint lingers still. Though we have been on Earth for some 8 years, I still can barely muster a summer squall."

"Ororo taught me to use magic to defend myself," Illyana continued. "All the energy powers I told you were part of my mutation are actually spells. My true mutant ability is teleportation, and I can't use it."

"Can't?" Kitty asked.

"Won't. My powers are connected to Limbo. I can pass freely back and forth now. But if I use it again, Belasco will be able to find me. He'll take me back there."

"Why is he so interested in you?" Armor asked what everyone was thinking.

"To finish what he started. He wants my soul."

Wolfsbane looked at Thunderbird, then at Illyana. "You sold your soul to a demon?"

"Hold your tongue, young woman," Storm boomed. "You know not of what you speak, or of what she has faced. Her soul was **stolen** by a demon!"

Wolfsbane immediately withdrew.

"Belasco turned a portion of my soul into a Bloodstone, an artifact of arcane power," Illyana's eyes teared.

"And after we escaped he hunted us, kept coming back for more. By the time we escaped he already had three. He needs five, to open some sort of gate to Earth. He showed me once, an amulet with a pentagram engraved on it.

"He wants me, specifically. Bloodstones can only be made from pure, innocent souls. I guess my X-Gene was so tied to Limbo that he was drawn to mine."

Here Illyana was no longer able to hold back her emotions. She began to sob with deep, heaving breaths.

"Miss Sinclair is right to fear me. I'm... corrupted. Even after the first Bloodstone had been forged, I heard a voice. It was trying to rationalize all things I was seeing, feeling. It wanted me to do things, to fall deeper into that Hell!

"And as he took more from me, the darkness kept gnawing and biting, and the whispers became shouts. In my dreams I still see that place, still hear it beckon."

"Fraulein," Kurt said softly.

"Most of my soul belongs to him. The brightest part, we separated from me and forged into a blade."

She held out her hand and a sword flashed into her grip.

"The Soulsword keeps the darkness at bay," she said. "But he wants all of me. He calls me his 'Darkchilde,' the Infernal Herald. His little monster."

Storm put her arm on the girl and allowed her to take a rest.

"When Illyana came of age and her mutant power arose, we saw an opportunity to finally escape. But her teleportation discs were unhoned, she needed to learn how they worked. They moved erratically through space and time, and at first she was unable to choose her destination. But eventually we had a breakthrough. After seven years in that nightmarish place, we found a way out. And Belasco found us. Henry and Peter volunteered to stay behind. Their sacrifice bought the two of us enough time to get out. At long last, out."

"My brother, and Doctor McCoy, they're still in there," Illyana wept. "It's all my fault!"

Kitty stood up. She looked grim - like she had just lost her best friend. Illyana hoped that expression wasn't literal in this case.

"Doesn't sound that way to me," she stated sharply. Ororo, I think she should stay here at the school with us."

Illyana stifled a whimper.

"I'm afraid I can't allow her to leave my care," Storm asserted.

"That's fine. You can both stay. Emma, take Ororo in your class. She already has the basics, and then some."

"Oh. Okay," Emma seemed startled by the hardness in Kitty's voice.

"Katherine, I appreciate your hospitality," Storm said. It sounded like she had something else to add, but left it out.

* * *

Illyana moved quickly through the halls, avoiding the eyes she knew were on her. Word of her story was spreading quickly through the school, and she wasn't used to the attention. She pushed ahead until she reached the door to her dorm.

Kitty was waiting for her inside, evidently having used her powers to invite herself in. She was looking at the scant items Illyana had decorated the room with.

"When we were roommates, that last year I was at school," the headmistress started, "I remember you used to have nightmares. You would mumble in your sleep."

"Kitty," Illyana whispered.

"I thought that you maybe had a rough family life. A violent father, something like that. I never said anything, because I didn't think I should. I'm not exactly the poster child for stable home lives myself."

She turned to face Illyana now, her face wet with tears.

"I wish I had said something. I wish I could have been there to help you. You've carried so much with you for so long."

"I'm sorry I lied," Illyana said. "I was a terrible friend."

"Illyana Rasputin," Kitty embraced the blonde, "We're both really terrible friends. But I think we can fix that now."

"You mean, we still friends?"

"Yeah," Kitty laughed, and wiped her eyes. "Don't be dumb. It's gonna take more than a few demons to wreck our friendship."

* * *

Ororo Munroe looked at the reflection in the mirror. Once there had been eyes there, eyes that had stared back at nightmare kings, alien warlords, the legions of Limbo, and everything in between. But those eyes were gone, the luster behind them long lost. She was back here, in this place where mutants found their beginnings.

_And so must I begin again._

She pulled from her shoe a dagger, ornately carved with blessings of an African shaman she met long ago. In her formative years she had used it in her thievery, prying locks and frightening the occasional traveler.

She held out part of her silken white hair and, in a single swift motion, lopped it from her head.

She closed her eyes, and went about her work. Her knife flashed back and forth, until much of her once-flowing hair lay in the sink. When all was said and done, she had cut a makeshift fade into the sides of her hair. She left the middle long to hang over one side. If she was to be a student once more, she should look the part. Ororo was never much one for conformity in her youth.

_Perhaps,_ she thought, _this could even be fun._ Her school days were long past her when she met Charles Xavier. She had to learn to use her powers the hard way.

She washed the remains of the old Storm down the sink, then left bathroom. Once the door shut the faucet turned back on. Then another. Then another. The rushing water sounded for anyone who could have heard it like hissing laughter...


	11. Chapter 11

Amara was standing before a plate of melted and warped metal. Behind her, Alison tightened the nozzle on a garden hose.

"You're getting more accurate," Alison ran a hand over the cooled plate. "But your precision still needs work. If you launch in little bits like this, you can hurt people around you."

"I'm glad I'm not, you know, blowing up anymore," Amara looked at her arms, "But if you haven't seen any volcanoes recently, they're not exactly very controlled."

"It helps in our case that you're a very small volcano. And that we have a few other miniature natural disasters to train alongside. Illyana, you're up."

Illyana stepped into the Danger Room and nodded politely.

"I trust you know which of your spells will be suitable for sparring?" Dazzler raised a gentle barrier of light around the two girls.

"Of course," Illyana drew her Soulsword. "I'll play defense."

"Thanks again for the company, Illyana," Amara said quietly.

"It's nice to have some myself. I can't avoid people forever. Plus, my usual training partners are working with Class X this week."

Illyana rolled her eyes. "Probably having a great time without me."

* * *

"We're gonna die in here, Bobby!"

Sam and Roberto were cowering behind the bar of an old fashioned saloon.

"Just remember, it's all a simulation," Roberto attempted to calm his friend.

"I know that, but I don't know if _she_ knows that!" Sam pointed out the saloon doors towards the lean silhouette stalking towards them.

* * *

"I'm not sure this lesson is meant to traumatize the Advanced Class," Mercury suggested as she watched Laura approach the saloon from the rooftops.

"You need to think like a bad guy, Cess," Wolverine grinned under her mask. "We're the veteran warriors defending our turf from the young guns. We have to show off a little."

"Do you have to be so good at playing a bad guy, then?"

"I'm the best I am at what I-"

Laura was cut off by a burst of heat surging through the doorway and colliding with her chest. The dark haired girl flew several feet backwards and landed on her back.

_"Voy a matarte,"_ she muttered, her rage building.

"Laura! Are you okay?" Cecily shouted.

"I will be," Laura unsheathed her claws, a set of 'safety pads' holographically materializing over each.

"I'm coming down," Mercury called out. But then she caught a glint of light in the window below.

Sam Guthrie blasted through the wall of the saloon, hurtling towards her like a bullet. She went limp, allowing her body to collapse into a silver pool as Sam rocketed past. Reforming, she saw him land then prepare for another run.

"Hold that thought," she told Laura.

* * *

"I never did ask Xavier why he had a Wild West ghost town programmed in here," Scott muttered as he looked inside a barrel absentmindedly.

He and Kitty were searching for Polaris on the outskirts of the dusty settlement.

"Maybe he just thought it was fun," Kitty adjusted the brim of the hat she found in one of the stores.

"The Danger Room isn't about fun. It's about preparing for any scenario. But this one is a stretch, I'll admit. Do you think time travel might be real?"

They continued down the road towards the railroad station. The Danger Room's computers could manage just about everything, save for the dirt thoroughfare. They left no footprints, and their shoes remained clean.

"Scott," Kitty said after a while. "Remember that day Storm came back, we were up in my room having a meeting?"

"Mmhm," Scott said. He checked in a window for signs of activity.

"Well, I was thinking, we didn't get to finish because of all the drama. So seeing as we're both here, and not doing anything."

"Sorry, no time for small talk right now," Cyclops pointed to the sky.

_Bad timing, dragon,_ Kitty thought.

Lockheed came down from his reconnaissance flight and gave a determined honk towards the town gate.

"She's out there," Kitty translated. "In the cemetery."

* * *

_Hisako, I just got a psychic message from Cecily. I'm heading over to back up her and Laura. You good?_

"Just finishing up here, Rachel" Hisako replied, watching another student get booted from the simulation. The Advanced Class was good, but they didn't have much to compensate for her Psionic Armor.

She caught a glimpse of someone climbing up a drain pipe to the roof of the tannery across the street. It was Storm. Armor saw an opportunity.

"On second thought, I've just sighted a high value target."

* * *

I really gotta add one of these to my uniform," Chris said to himself. He was salivating over a display of duster jackets hanging in the window of an outfitter's shop.

The sound of wings broke his train of thought. Warren Worthington was floating over head, a pair of large angelic wings on his back, two smaller wings on his waist.

"Hey. It's Triage, right?"

"Yeah," Chris replied. Just his luck.

"I like it. I can't wait until I get to pick my codename," he gave an imaginative grin.

"We're supposed to fight, you know," Chris grew impatient with the winged boy.

"I know. Just making conversation."

"You already talk too much," Chris whispered, pulling his goggles on.

* * *

"I understand that Remmy is… forward," Jonathan said gingerly. He wasn't sure which was more unnerving, talking about teen romance or talking about it with the Cuckoos.

"And he'll definitely be talked to about his behavior. But you can't solve all your problems with mind control."

Rahne looked around uncomfortably.

"You… _can_ actually undo what you did, right? He keeps clucking like a hen every two minutes."

"He'll only do that when he thinks of girls that way again," Mindee said.

"It's not our fault he does it so much," Celeste smirked.

Thunderbird looked at Wolfsbane pleadingly.

"A little help, here?"

"Actually," Rahne said, noticing Illyana and Amara heading down the hall. "I think you're really nailing it. I need to catch up with you later."

* * *

The sound of a barrel impacting the roof indicated that Storm had lost the element of surprise. She saw Hisako picking up another barrel to lob her way.

"Hello Miss Munroe. Fancy meeting you here."

"Miss Ichiki. Your instructors tell me you have great promise. Now is your chance to impress me."

"I won't go easy on you just because you don't have your powers."

"Neither will I," Ororo grinned wickedly.

* * *

The town cemetery was in advanced disrepair. Headstones were worn smooth by exposure to the elements, and dead bushes sprouted from between the cracks of the rough stone path.

"You waiting for us, Polaris?" Cyclops announced as he spotted her.

"Pretty much. Nice hat, Pryde."

Lorna was wearing a black ten-gallon of her own, leaned against a wall of the old burial site.

"There wasn't much metal in the Old West," Kitty prepared herself. "You sure you're up for this?"

"I'll live."

"Let's stay close," Kitty whispered. "She'll be using projectiles, I can phase us through them."

"No," Scott shook his head. "She'll be looking for an opportunity to take us both out at once. You run ahead and flank."

"But my phasing-"

"There's no time, Shadowcat," Cyclops snapped.

"Sure, flank, whatever. No time," Kitty said as she ran off.

Polaris opened a saddle bag and produced two double-barrelled shotguns. With a twist of her fingers she sheared the metal barrels from the stock and split them into eight long, rough-hewn blades.

"I've been waiting to get in the ring with you guys," she smiled. "Let's see what happens!"

* * *

"No fair," Bobby rubbed his head.

"We didn't know telepathy was allowed," Sam

"We don't get to pick our mutations," Rachel said, helping Sam up. "Otherwise I might just stick to flying like you."

"It's not just flying," Laura said. "Way more force then a scrawny kid like him should be able to hit with."

"Hey!" Sam whined. "I'm practically the same age as you."

Laura ignored him.

"You don't just fly, you _launch._ Could have some fun applications."

Cecily stretched her neck up over the roof.

"It should just be Polaris and Storm left, right?"

"I didn't see Warren on my route," Rachel closed her eyes and opened her mind.

"If he's still out there, I'm sure Hisako found him," Laura smirked.

"Actually," Rachel opened her eyes again, "Chris found him. And he's having a bit of trouble."

"Trouble? He's fighting a bird with a stick," Laura said. "We'd better move fast."

* * *

Chris flew through a digital building and landed at Armor's feet.

"Hey Hisako," he said sheepishly.

"Chris what are you doing here?"

"I live here?"

"I mean, I'm kinda busy here," Hisako dodged back from Storm's chop. "This lady is insane."

"I have been fighting for longer than you have been alive, child!" Ororo planted herself with her feet. "I have learned from the masters on on three continents!"

"But can you do this?" Armor shouted. She expanded her armor out until it was nearly twice Storm's size.

"Oh, hey Hisako," Warren's voice floated into the scene. His wings and eyes were glowing gold.

"Me and Chris were just having a chat."

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Cyclops]

_Civilian Name: Scott Summers

_Mutant Ability: Optical Force Projection

_Part of my very first group of students, Scott demonstrated remarkable talent for coordinating his peers into a unified force. Last year we made it official, and appointed the 16 year old boy field leader. He still has much to learn, and Storm fears that the role will impact his ability to interact on even footing with the others, but I have faith.

[ADMN_X/0710-1998]

_Both of us are perhaps impartial in updating this file. I owe a lot to Scott. He gave my life direction after leaving the Hellfire Club behind. Both of us were out of the picture for many years when Essex Corp held us in cryogenic storage to harvest our mutant genes. The effects gave us a new lease on life, of a sort. Mr. Foley has analyzed our blood since arriving at the school, and found that we are the same age biologically as we were seven years ago, when Sinister first got his claws on us.

[ADMN_F/0501-2024]

{File Locked for Editing by ADMN_R}


	12. Chapter 12

"Now the trick here, is to watch how the structure reacts to each touch."

Very slowly and steadily, Kurt pulled a wooden block from the tower, placing it in a pile at his side.

"Oh man, Mr. Wagner, how are you so good at that?" Jubilee stared wide-eyed at the tower.

"When you have fingers like mine, fine motor skills are as epic a challenge as any android or alien parasite. Colossus and I liked to pass the time with this old thing, years ago."

"This is all great," Anna said unconvincingly, "But shouldn't we be training so that I don't constantly leech the energy away from people?"

"Too much training can be almost as bad as no training at all," Kurt said. "If you tell your brain that you are always on the defensive, it will believe you."

"We think your mutation is more of a defense mechanism than anything else," Clarice added. "At your age, everything stresses you out. In time, your body and mind will probably set aside their differences and work around your mutation. But for now, we have to lower your barriers manually. I know I probably sound like an old hippy, but we should really get you involved with Miss Pryde's yoga class."

"Yoga? Me?"

Clarice laughed. "I know. I wasn't sold on it either. You and I, patience isn't our strong suit. But it's actually really good."

"Gah!" Jubilee broke the flow of conversation as the tower fell with a clatter.

"Okay, now I'm committed. I have to figure this out."

Blink gave Jubilee a funny look, sizing up how she imagined the girl would 'figure out' a 40-year old game with two rules that she had apparently just learned about 45 minutes ago.

"Why don't you go get ready for lunch. We can talk about yoga later. I'll play next, Kurt. There should be time for one more round before the period is up."

Nightcrawler sagged a bit after the girls had left.

"I just wanted to spend a bit of time with her. But she was bored near to tears."

"You're a good guy, Kurt," Blink said, focusing on rebuilding the tower.

"She knows that. She's just maybe not so good at expressing it. If the X-Men could solve that problem we wouldn't need to worry about the hated and feared thing, we'd be millionaires."

* * *

"Well that was icky," Kitty said to herself as she phased onto the roof of a mausoleum. She was behind and above Lorna now. Every once and a while Cyclops left cover to volley an optic blast at his opponent.

A chunk of one of Polaris' shotguns flew past Kitty in a wide orbit.

"Oh look," Kitty said to herself. "Projectiles."

She dove off the mausoleum, phasing into the ground and popping up at Lorna's feet. She unphased and threw a punch at the green-haired woman's back. Lorna halted her assault on Cyclops, the attack catching her off guard.

"Clever, Polaris grinned, kicking out at her new target. Her foot slid ineffectually threw Kitty, who then lunged forward with another jab. Lorna caught Kitty's forearm with her hands, but Kitty phased again and moved for a sucker punch.

But Kitty was unphased long enough to catch an anvil in the back as she made her strike, the inertia of the large surprise Lorna had concealed sending her flying across the open graveyard. She landed with a grunt a few feet away from Cyclops.

"Two X-Men leaders at once," Polaris said as she retrieved her hat by the metal studs. "I thought it would be more of a challenge. But you two are barely trying."

"You can take us both down," Cyclops shouted. "But my team will deal with yours and come for you next!"

Shadowcat wheeled around to face her partner. _His_ team?

"You mean _'our'_ team."

"_The_ team. What's the difference?"

Kitty scowled, and broke off towards Polaris.

"Kitty, we need to stick together!"

"That's funny, because I haven't felt like we've been doing anything 'together' for a month and a half!"

Kitty was swatted aside by another chunk of metal.

"Am I interrupting something?" Polaris pouted. She was hoping for a real fight. But there was clearly a larger issue in play.

"Where is this coming from?" Scott threw his hands in the air. "We seriously can't do this right now!"

"You've been saying that the whole summer!"

"Okay, you two need a time out," Lorna muttered. Behind her the railroad tracks lifted with a groan.

* * *

"Chris, what are you doing here?"

A strange scene now played out in the center of the Wild West town. An angel, a glowing shit of armor, a boy with healing hands, and a weather witch now staring across at one another.

"Oh, you know," Chris wheezed. "Getting my ass kicked."

Warren's wings shone with golden light, and two thin lasers screamed out of his body towards Triage.

"Why are you fighting Warren here? Isn't the Danger Room big enough for everyone? I'm barely holding my own here as it is!"

"I don't suppose you want to trade?" Chris offered.

"Just go wait for backup! The others will be on their way soon!"

"I'm not helpless," Chris said with a dark twinge of determination.

He ran at his angelic opponent once more, and was thrown back a final time.

Hisako, meanwhile, had to refocus her efforts on the African goddess she was matching fists with. She had grown her armor to almost as large as she could go, and was hitting with the power to repel a rhino. But she just couldn't hit Ororo.

"You have not yet learned to overcome the loss of speed that comes from your increased size. In most match-ups that may not be an issue, you can just power through it. But I am not most match-ups."

Storm dove underneath the huge suit of pyonic armor, causing Hisako to twist to keep track of the veteran mutant. It was just the maneuver Ororo expected her to make, getting her center of gravity nice and off kilter for her to give a strong shove. Armor teetered and then fell with a crash.

Hisako's armor faded and Storm gave her a judo toss across the town square, the young woman landing next to Chris's limp form.

"Okay," she said as they both started booting out of the simulation.

"How about that trade?"

* * *

"Do you just think I can't do it? I'm not good enough?"

By now all pretenses of a training exercise had been abandoned.

"Do what, Kitty?"

"Lead! Lead this team! You've been undermining me since day one!"

"You need to calm down," Cyclops said sternly, putting his hand on Kitty's arm. But Kitty was on edge, and grabbed Scott's arm to toss him on the ground. Scott vaulted back up and gave her a low-power blast from his visor.

"You're way out of line!" He shouted as Kitty gave a shouting tackle into his chest.

A rail flew at Kitty and Scott, winding around them and squeezing like a boa constrictor.

Kitty phased out of the trap as Cyclops shredded the beams with his optic blast. They squared up again, just as the Danger Room simulation began to drop down. Emma and Mirage ran in to restrain their two coworkers.

"Break it up, you two!" Emma shouted. After a moment of struggle, the feeling passed. Scott and Kitty fell limp.

"Watch her, Lorna," Dani said, releasing Kitty and turning to the students

"Well," Mirage said, readjusting her uniform. "Let's break this down into two parts."

She looked at the two teachers sternly.

"Let's start with Class A; Sam and Roberto - you acted well under pressure.

The two boys exchanged a quiet fist bump.

"Though you were ultimately overpowered by superior numbers, your tenacity in the face of stronger opponents is commendable. Some of your other classmates could stand to follow your lead."

"Warren - your enthusiasm is good, though perhaps a bit overboard."

"Just a bit," Chris groaned.

"And lastly we have Storm," Dani looked to the older woman. "Clearly you don't need your powers to be a force to be reckoned with."

"Thank you, Miss Moonstar," Storm said. "If I may, I would like to thank Miss Ichiki for the excellent duel."

"As good a transition as any," Dani nodded. "Class X demonstrated good teamwork when the situation allowed. You could stand to improve your individual performances, but it's a fine problem to have for a group that's been together so long."

"But _you_," she wheeled around towards Kitty and Scott. "I'm not sure what's going on with you two, but you need to get your acts together. It's an embarrassing display in front of the students."

Kitty turned bright red.

"Honestly," Dani seemed genuinely angry. "Everyone is dismissed."

* * *

Rachel found her father outside the locker rooms.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Cyclops said, a guilty frown on his face.

"Why were you two fighting?"

"I don't know," he said. "It just came out of nowhere. She was going on about me not wanting her to lead. It was the first I've heard of it."

"Are you sure?"

"Am I sure of what?"

"Sure it's not the first time? Remember a few weeks ago, when you met in her room?"

"You think she was going to talk to me about that?"

"I think she's been trying to talk to you about _something_ for a long time."

"I guess I don't understand why she feels that way," he said. "This job isn't about stuff like that. You just do the job."

"Maybe _you_ do, but not everyone is like you."

"Of course not. You… turned out a lot more like your mom that I did."

They looked at one another across an invisible gulf.

"Dad - I… I don't _want to_ be angry at you."

Tears welled up in Rachel's eyes, the girl deciding now was as good a time as any to have this conversation.

"But I just can't understand why you did it. Why you gave up on Mom, why you left me behind any of it!"

"Rachel…" Cyclops put his arms around her.

"I never gave up on your mother. I spent years looking for her. I still know she's out there somewhere - _up there,_ somewhere. And somehow, I think everything that's happened since then - meeting Emma, getting kidnapped by Essex, getting rescued by you - she was there with us. If you don't believe me, you can look in my head and see for yourself."

"I can't do that," Rachel said. "I can't convince myself I trust you that little."

On the other side of the lockers, Emma wished very much that invisibility was one of her mutant powers. Or curling up and dying.

Rachel turned to leave, then stopped and inhaled sharply.

"What's wrong?" Scott rushed to her. Her face was Steele's with glowing purple lines.

"Something is happening."

* * *

"I guess I thought life at the school would be… different," Anna lamented as she left the stall.

"But I just can't get the hang of it."

"If you do yoga, I'll come with," Jubilee offered. "All the wine moms in Beverly Hills made it look like fun."

She turned from the sink to see the hand dryer grinning at her savagely.

_"Yesssss, child of light!"_ The hand dryer licked a row of sharp teeth.

"Gah!" Jubilee screamed and recoiled into the stall door. The door pushed her forward, with a chorus of laughter.

"What the hell are these things?"

"I don't know!" Rogue shouted, "We need to get out of here!"

Amara, N'Ezhno, and Dazzler ran into the room, hearing Jubilee and Anna's screams.

"Okay," Alison quickly composed herself. "Nez, Amara, get help, quickly."

She ran into the bathroom. The checker pattern of the tile floor had begun to warp and swirl, and the center of the room began to dip lower and lower.

_"Down, down to the master!"_ One of the toilets cackled as the floor began to turn spongey and porous.

"We're being flushed!" Anna shouted. Around her the lights flickered and blinked like darting eyes.

Dazzler grabbed at Rogue - too late, as the floor began to swallow her.

"Miss Blaire!" N'Ezhno now rushed forward to pull Dazzler up. Amara joined in as well.

"I said get help!" Dazzler shouted.

"We're helping you!" Amara screamed back. The air was beginning to fill with a full roar, as a rush of wind began pouring from the drop ceiling. In the mirrors strata of Earth moved by in a blur like a dented elevator.

"Oh no," N'Ezhno realized what was about to happen and turned to his friend.

"Get back, Amara!" Nez pushed the fiery-headed girl out of the bathroom as a rush of wind and smoke burst from the floor, enveloping him. When she could see again, the bathroom was untouched - and empty.

* * *

"I couldn't get anything specific. It just hit me like a wave."

Kurt, Rachel, Illyana, and Scott were in the sitting room, trying to console the young telepath. There was a pit in the bottom of Illyana's stomach she couldn't shake.

"Mr. Wagner!"

Amara ran towards Nightcrawler, her face pale and grim.

Illyana read her expression and collapsed, clutching her head. Her greatest fear had come true.

"My god, not again."


	13. Chapter 13

"Stay close to me, kids," Alison held an orb of light above her head, taking stock of her surroundings.

"Where are we, Miss Blaire?" Anna shivered.

"Nowhere good, that's for sure."

They were in a shallow canyon, at the base of an enormous castle. Parapets stuck out from the core structure at every angle, no matter how seemingly impossible it would have been to build. The sky was a rusty gray and heavy with swirling clouds, punctured here and there by a rock spire several hundred feet in diameter.

"I think this is Limbo."

"We are not alone," N'Ezhno reported. From the rim on either side of the canyon came hundreds of creatures crawling, slithering, and scrambling down towards the mutants.

The pack of monsters surrounded them, clicking and chortling in half-human tongues.

"Everyone get behind me," N'Ezhno whispered.

"Not yet, Nez," Alison hissed urgently. "Play it cool."

The smallest of the bunch, a mottled brown creature with a long snout and a crooked hunch, beckoned them.

"Thisss way, prettiesss. To the Massster!"

Two larger demons behind Dazzler and company began moving forward, herding the group like sheep.

As the convoy traveled to the castle, the demons beat their chests and howled in almost rhythmic chants. Jubilee noticed more demons joining the procession as they went, crawling down the walls and burrowing out of the ground.

When they reached the gate, the ensemble gave a final cacophonous round of chants before falling silent. Then the doors to the castle slowly swing open. To the surprise of the mutants, most of the demons then quickly and quietly dispersed, with the brown demon and a few of his crew remaining. Their small captor grinned triumphantly, and they stepped into the main room.

It was long, with a number of torches in sconces providing light. A huge chunk of the ceiling and back wall was missing, allowing a commanding view of the castle's twisted structure beyond. At the end of the room was a wide, backless throne. Before the throne was a metal grate with two lengths of chain snaked up from an unseen chamber below.

Seated on the throne was a man with pink skin and a pair of horns on his head. A sharply-raised collar framed his auburn hair. When he saw the brown demon he opened his mouth as if to say something, only to close his eyes and purse his lips.

The imp bowed deeply and gestured towards the girls and N'Ezhno.

"Found the Child of Light, Massster!"

The man's eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Sym!" He suddenly bellowed.

A large pink creature with tusks lumbered over to the throne.

"S'right Boss," he said gruffly, then closed the distance between himself and the small demon with frightening speed. He snatched up the demon in a single hand and clenched his fist. The diminutive minion screamed in agony, then immediately burst into flame.

The man looked at Dazzler and company intently while this happened.

"Where are my manners?" he said finally. "My name is Belasco, and this is my realm."

"We know all about you, creep-lord!" Jubilee snapped. "You aren't going to use our souls for your blood-magic crap!"

"I suppose your soul _would_ be pure enough…" Belasco mused. "Despite your _attitude_. But you still aren't her. You aren't my Illyana."

"My _attitude?_"

"That's enough Jubilee," Dazzler said. She looked at Belasco.

"Clearly your… former employee… mistook one or more of us for the person you seek."

"Good help is hard to find these days," the demon king shrugged.

"Then since you recognize that this is all a big misunderstanding, we'll be on our way."

"That's not quite what I had in mind," Belasco grinned.

* * *

"Where is Miss Pryde?"

Rachel, Triage, and Cecily found Laura and Hisako sitting in the landing at the top of the second floor.

"She hasn't come out since we got the news," Laura said.

"Dad - Cyclops - is taking a team into Limbo to go after Dazzler and everyone."

"Is he sure that's a good idea?" Laura frowned. "We know what happened the last time."

"This time we have Illyana, though," Cecily said. "She can open the gate at will."

"You're going, then?" Laura stood and faced her friend.

"You're not?" Cecily seemed surprised.

"I don't know… I was hoping that wasn't the plan, that's for sure. This particular Wolverine has never visited an alternate dimension before, and she isn't ready to do it today… I don't know."

"It's our job, isn't it?" Cecily held out her hands.

"I'm going," Hisako shrugged.

"If Warren is going, I'm going," Chris crossed his arms. He turned to walk to the backyard.

"It's personal, now. Besides, the Class C students may need healing."

"I'll be right back," Hisako said suddenly, following Chris. Rachel looked at the colors of Laura and Cecily's auras and decided to excuse herself.

"You've been a little… different since we visited your parents," Laura looked hard at the other girl.

"I don't know why it bothers you so much," Cecily sounded a bit angry. "I'm trying to be less sensitive about things."

"But that's not you," Laura said, exasperated. "You don't want to shut yourself off to things like that."

"It works for you," Cecily said quietly.

Laura turned around and scowled.

"Not as often as you'd think."

* * *

Chris, stop," Hisako called after him.

"What is your deal with him?" Hisako looked angry with the boy.

"Like I said, it's personal now."

"You sure you're not just _jealous?_"

"What? Why would you think that?"

"Ever since that first time I sat with him at lunch, you've been so against him!"

Chris's cheeks burned.

"Maybe I just didn't want my friend to get hurt," he said.

"What does that-" she started to ask, but Chris took off running again.

* * *

"Good, good. Keep them separated, so won't have any more accidents."

Belasco's forces were moving Alison and the students into individual cages.

"Oh, but in fact I know who you are, mutant. I've dealt with your kind in the past. A sad story, your species. Drawn to each other like moths to flame, with only woe to come from the union. But sorrow breeds great potential for people like me. My darling Darkchilde was born of such sorrow. Illyana is there, at your school."

Beneath him the chains began to pull as something in the dungeon stirred.

"I intend to reclaim what is mine."

* * *

"This is madness," Illyana shook her head.

"It's a profound risk, I agree," Storm stood behind the blonde girl.

Scott was unmoved.

"It was a risk last time because we didn't have a way back. But now we have her."

He pointed at Illyana.

"You told us your mutant ability connects you to Limbo."

"It does, but-"

"So you'll open the portal to Limbo, we'll go teach Belasco a long overdue lesson, and we'll make these last 17 years right."

Jonathan Proudstar addressed the group of mutants after everyone has arrived.

"Alright kids, here's the deal. Four of our number were abducted today by forces outside of this world."

A murmur went through the crowd.

"Today's operation aims to bring them back safe and sound. Cyclops will lead Class X into the rift. I will accompany them to track down the missing students. Chosen members of Class A and B will follow me."

Standing in a row behind him were Warren, Phoebe, Celeste, Mindee, and Remy.

Emma raised her hand to gather attention.

"I will remain here, in psychic rapport with my girls. Once you find the mutants and return to the entry point, they will contact me and Illyana will open the portal again. You go in, you get our people, you get out. And you be safe..."

Rachel stepped forward.

"Since the Cuckoos are handling long distance communication, I'll link everyone together for short range."

Cyclops shook his head.

"Actually Rachel, you'll be back here."

"What do you mean? I'm part of this team, too."

"Listen, it might make me sound bad, but I don't want to put you in danger."

"Then I'm staying too," Laura crossed her arms. "Didn't want to go on your suicide mission anyway."

"You're every bit as insubordinate as your father," Cyclops growled.

"If Kitty were here-"

"She's not. So I'm stepping up. And I say you're going!"

"A moment, dear," Emma pulled Scott over towards where Doug Ramsey, Kurt some of the other teachers were.

"Now, you know I love when you get all determined," Emma said softly, "But tensions are a little high right now. Everyone is in a bad mood."

"It's just pre-mission nerves," Scott said with a tone that suggested even he wasn't convinced. "I've seen it a hundred times."

"Scott," Doug put his hand on the man's shoulder, "Perhaps it _would_ do some good if some of the more combat proficient mutants stay behind to watch the school. You're not going to war with all of Limbo. You're getting our people and going home. Like Emma said."

Scott turned to Kurt.

"You don't seem too affected by any of this."

"Nonsense. I'm trembling in my knee-high boots," he smiled.

"I'm just better at burying my feelings than you are. People have been telling me I come from Hell for a fair few years. Now my sister is down there somewhere, and it's up to us to get her back. Jonathan can do the tracking by himself, Laura can remain here to protect the students with the others. It will work out if we're all together."

Illyana cleared a spot in the lawn.

"I'm not keeping it open for long. If you have even a prayer of succeeding, you need to move fast."

* * *

There was a knock at Kitty's door.

"Go away, Laura."

A purple flash behind her prompted Kitty to turn and see Blink stepping out of a portal from the hallway outside.

"You look awful," Blink said plainly.

"Everything is going wrong, Clarice."

"And you're in here, hiding from the crisis."

"This isn't just some crisis, this destroyed the X-Men last time!" Kitty shouted.

"They had the professor, they had Jean and Ororo, they had Scott… and they couldn't do anything about it. Now we just have me, who can't control her own class and who can't keep her students safe. A loser, in way over her head."

Blink put her chin on her finger thoughtfully.

"I mean, I thought you were kind of a dweeb when were kids. Maybe you aren't cut out for this after all."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, but I'm getting there. I just need…"

Another portal opened and Lorna staggered through, apparently teleported mid-stride.

"...a little more help."

"Damnit, Clarice, you can't keep doing that."

Lorna then realized where she was.

"Oh."

"Kitty here needs a pep talk. She's not feeling too confident in herself right now."

"Is this about you and Cyclops in the Danger Room earlier?"

"Super mature of me, I know," Kitty sighed. "I'm still the same stupid kid I was when I was 11!"

"It takes two to tango," Lorna shrugged. "If you two had drama, one of you could have told us. That means Cyclops too."

"But at least he's doing something," Kitty shook her head.

"I just let everyone down."

"Listen, Kitty. What you think of yourself is one thing. But remember, Xavier chose you as his successor. He must have seen something in you. Something we missed."

"But why _did_ he choose me? Lorna, you've been watching over mutants with the underground for years. Kurt already had experience as an X-Man. I've been living in the normal world for my whole life. Why didn't he pick someone else?"

"I'll admit," Polaris shook her head, "I've asked myself the same question a lot since word got around that the X-Men were back. At first, I questioned whether he trusted me. Maybe he still saw too much Magneto in me to leave it in my hands."

"Oh, Lorna. I didn't mean it to imply-"

"I know. You aren't the only one with hangups. But as I thought about it, I realized that he passed up Jonathan too, and plenty of others. Then I came here, and I think I figured it out. He chose you because of that normal life you were talking about."

"A solid point," Blink nodded.

Lorna sat in the bed with Kitty.

"You have the context of both worlds that we don't. Nightcrawler would be caged if he spoke out on his own. His days of normal are long behind him. I was raised in my father's world. Normal for me didn't ever come. I didn't go to school, I didn't really have a home until I came to this house for the first time. You feel like you were stuck out there this whole time, but really it gave you your greatest strength."

"My strength is that I'm… normal?"

"No," Blink smirked. "You're one of us, you'll never really be normal. But if we're going to deal with humans some day, it won't help anyone if the leaders don't know what being human is like."

Suddenly a shriek rang out from the backyard.

"Girl talk is over," Lorna snapped to attention. "Blink, if you would?"

"Hey, guys?" Kitty paused. "Thank you. I needed this."

"I know," Blink shrugged. "Call it my secondary mutation. Now come on. It's time to go to work, ladies."

* * *

One portal later, the three women came running out to the yard. Illyana was crouched on the lawn.

"Illyana!" Kitty ran to her side.

"So much dark magic," she whispered. "It's him. The gate was open for too long. He's found me, Kitty. Belasco is coming!"


	14. Chapter 14

"I thought Belasco couldn't crossover into our world without the Bloodstones?"

"He can't…" Illyana stammered. "But yet… I feel him…"

"Okay, just get inside."

Kitty's expression hardened.

"Blink, we'll need a portal. And find me a psychic! We need all students from Basic and Intermediate inside and into the Danger Room!"

* * *

In her loft in the attic of the Xavier Mansion, Ororo Munroe was a whirlwind of emotion. She had done everything she could to protect the girl, to keep her away from this place of her greatest defeat. Were the last years just some cruel charade? Had Belasco only just found them, or had he never lost them at all?

Her thoughts turned bitter. Her friends had once again crusaded into that hellish place, while still more were gathering down on the lawn. And she was up here. She had thought she could Wade back into the fray with her knife and her spirit, but this was Limbo - this was a _real_ threat - and she was powerless to stop it.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Ororo," Emma called. "There's a situation out back."

Storm shook her head. There was always a situation. And there must always be someone to meet it head on.

"Go on ahead, Miss Frost. I will prepare, and join you shortly."

She sat cross-legged on the ground and closed her eyes.

* * *

Emma and the remaining members of the Advanced Class assembled in the backyard after the school had been secured.

"I guess we don't have detention after all," Bobby whispered to Sam.

"Wouldn't it be something if all the big shots got to go on the field trip to Hell and we were the ones who got to fight the demons?"

_I wouldn't worry too much about your detention, sweeties,_ Emma psychically intruded on the conversation. _There will be plenty of time to make it up later._

A visible shimmer appeared in the air. A sound like a heart beat thumped through the disturbance. And then a crack formed in the empty space, the mark of an impact with some invisible barrier.

The shimmer strained and splintered, and a set of clawed fingers appeared, rending the margin between Earth and Limbo apart. A terrible stifled moan pushed through the holes, and then a second pair of hands - these ones clad in metal - joined the first in opening up the tear.

"Hit them now!" Emma called out. "Don't let them through!"

Bobby launched a barrage of solar energy at the rift, while Mirage channeled her powers into willing a large laser rifle into existence. Illyana held up her hands and spouted a jet of blue flame into the breach, and Polaris readied an arsenal of metal bars in the air behind her.

Kitty and the others stood by, their powers not suited for ranged combat. She realized that was a major weak spot among the present staff.

When the dust cleared, there was a huge figure standing on the lawn. He was covered in plates of metal and chains, several of which extended from his arms and legs behind him into the new Limbo portal. His head was encased in a twisted helmet, and he held a similarly grizzly mace in his hand. Everything glowed a deep orange from the heat of the X-Men's barrage.

From behind the newcomer came a slathering, snarling creature. Its body, somewhere between an ape and a dog, was covered in mottled grey fur. Serrated teeth, dripping with saliva, protruded from an unlocked muzzle, and pinpoint-thin orange eyes blazed through its sockets.

"Which one is Belasco?" Clarice asked aloud.

"I don't think either," Kitty replied. "Illyana said he looked like a man."

"Cool. I'm going to say hi."

Blink sprinted forward and tossed a pink energy dagger in front of herself. As it arced over the armored figure, she opened a portal underneath herself, flipping down into it…

...and into the helmet of Belasco's knight as the knife burst into a portal over his head.

"Polaris. This seems like a 'you' enemy," Blink grunted as the goliath tossed her, another portal rerouting her momentum into another blow.

"I'm a little - hrrng! - busy, Clarice!" And indeed she was, as the grey monster had singled her out and was now bearing down on her with intent to maw.

"Hey!" Laura called out as she arrived on the scene, "We've already got claws on this team, let me show you!"

"Make that two of us!" Rahne growled, now fully slipped into wolf form.

Dani drew her bow and stood in front of Cypher.

"Give me some options, Doug."

"The hairy one is the less protected of the two - focus that one, and we can narrow the fight to just one enemy combatant."

"Sam and I will help blink distract the big guy while you get the ugly one under control," Roberto called.

In the back, Emma and Kitty surveyed the battle.

"I can't go diamond without breaking my link to the triplets," Emma said to Kitty. "It will take some time to put them down psychically, there's powerful blocks in place."

"Stay back here and work on bringing those down," Kitty said. "Where's Storm?"

"She should hopefully be joining us shortly."

Kitty drew her sword, a souvenir from her last stay in Japan. She had never used it in a fight before - she hoped her and Lockheed's craftsmanship was up to the task.

"I'll buy us some time, then."

* * *

"Everything is secure down here," Rachel put her hands on her hips, "I'm going up to help."

"Me too," Illyana stood in the hall with her Soulsword out.

"But Illyana, you're the one they're after."

"These are literally _my_ demons, Rachel. I have to fight them myself. I'm done letting others get hurt trying to protect me."

A silver disc opened behind her.

"I'm not the little girl I was that day. Now come on. It's faster than the elevator."

"What's going to happen to Nez and Rogue and the others, Illyana?"

Amara looked at the two girls with a concerned expression.

"Everything will be fine. Just stay down here with the other students."

"There's a reason they call it the Danger Room," Rachel nodded. "There's no place safer on the property."

* * *

The X-Men arrived on a plateau of wilted flowers overlooking Belasco's castle.

"Stay sharp, mutants," Cyclops ordered. "They're bound to know we're coming."

"Hey, Hisako," Warren grinned. "This is pretty good, huh? Me an angel, vs a bunch of demons?"

"Now's not a great time, Warren," Hisako muttered, looking intently at Chris. He and Nightcrawler were at the front of the group, scoping out the palace. Thunderbird was crouched nearby.

"They are almost certainly somewhere down there," Kurt squinted his yellow eyes. "What a dreadful place."

"The sooner we find out friends, the sooner we can leave," Triage frowned.

"That's a good man," Scott put his hand on Chris's shoulder.

"Everything's all twisted up," Jonathan reported. "Got at least a dozen scents criss-crossing."

"But can you track them?"

"Give me a sec," the dark haired man grumbled, concentrating.

"There."

He pointed at the gate of the castle.

"They were lead through there, and in through the front. Now they're on the ground floor."

"All I needed to hear," Cyclops clapped his hands once.

"Everyone, form up. Time to do this."

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Polaris]

_Civilian Name: Lorna Dane

_Mutant Ability: Ferrokinesis

_I admit, I am nervous. I have not seen my goddaughter in six years. She and Erik were never close, but I still felt too ashamed of myself to confront her before now. If all goes well, she'll be the spearhead of a secret initiative to protect the mutant race until my other plans have come to fruition. It's not the X-Men, but desperate times call for desperate measures indeed.

[ADMN_X/2014]

_This week we invited Miss Dane to teach at the school in the summer. Everyone speaks very highly of her, despite the situation with her father. I'm rather anxious to talk to her myself.

[ADMN_R/0320-2024]

_Goddaughter? Magneto and Professor Xavier must have been closer than I thought. There's quite a bit of data on Magneto in here, but most of it is encrypted…

[ADMN_F/0323-2024]


	15. Chapter 15

Rachel and Illyana emerged from the stepping disc into the back yard.

"I'm going to help the others with the big one," Illyana shouted.

_Rachel, good of you to join us. If you would be so kind as to lend me your telepathic talents?_

"I'm going to help Miss Frost," Rachel replied, the teacher's voice echoing through both of their heads.

The armored man from Limbo was taking sustained fire from Bobby's solar blasts, but he wasn't slowing down. Sam baited him to swing with his giant mace down into one of Blink's portals so that she could cleave a portion of its head off.

Kitty saw Illyana coming down the hill.

"Yana, what are you doing?"

"Helping! Watch your head!"

Kitty ducked out of the way of a gauntleted swing.

"Do you know these guys?"

Illyana shook her head. "I've seen a lot of Belasco's lieutenants, but these two are new to me."

Clarice dropped out of a portal behind the girls.

"You seeing what I'm seeing?" She pointed to the rift leading into Limbo. Two chains were snaking through the gash, barely visible within a shroud of magic. They each connected to one of the monsters the mutants were fighting.

"I know that spell," Illyana said thoughtfully. "They're being controlled by the chains, like puppets."

"By Belasco?" Kitty asked.

"Most probably," she shrugged.

"What happens if the chains are cut?" Blink gave the creature a wide berth as she tried to get a closer look.

"The person on the other end loses control of them, they'll revert to whatever their base instinct is."

"And is that _good?"_

"If Belasco knows Lorna can control metal, that would explain why he's making the hairy thing prioritize her," Kitty said.

"We break the connection, we break its focus. Then she can take down this one."

"Okay," Illyana said after a moment to think it through. "Clarice, you and I will take the chain. Teleport as much as possible, we'll use separate gates."

"What about me?" Kitty asked.

"My Soulsword will make shorter work of cutting that chain. You can cover us."

"And I don't suppose you have an extra one of those swords?" Blink asked?"

"No. I was hoping you would act as a distraction."

"Awful lot of distracting going around, but the more chaos, the less of us they can hit. Works for me."

The large armored foe, meanwhile, was lumbering over to strike at the three women as they strategized. He reached a giant armored hand for the Illyana.

"Watch out, Illyana!" Kitty shouted as she jabbed into a chink in the Knight's armor, connecting to something softer within.

"ILLYANA!" The armored figure bellowed.

Illyana stopped dead in her tracks.

"Kitty, get back, don't hurt him!"

"What do you mean, don't hurt him?" Kitty reacted in shock.

"It looks pretty keen on hurting us," Sam called from up high.

"Just trust, me, please?" The blonde woman conjured several lengths of magic rope to slow the rampaging giant down. Then she ported over to where the hairy one was still fighting Wolverine, Rahne, and Polaris. Dani had since fallen back to provide cover for Rachel and Emma.

"What happened to the plan?" Blink stepped out of her own portal next to Illyana.

"This is the plan, now! We have to hurry!"

Belasco's armored servant must have guessed their goal, as he now moved to charge them.

"Wolfsbane, Wolverine! Defensive positions, now!" Blink shouted.

She tossed a portal Lorna's way, pushing the green haired woman out of immediate danger. Moving with the fluidity of a dancer, she directed Laura and Rahne around the colossal foe in a flurry of portals.

The bestial Limbo-servant now had its narrow eyes focused on Illyana.

"I know what you are," Illyana said slowly. "So work with me here."

The monster charged. She swung the Soulsword, and it dented the chain with a loud clang.

"One more," she grunted, summoning a shield to protect herself from the pouncing creature.

In a flash of purple, Blink appeared behind the shield.

"Not that I think you're in over your head..." she began.

"I owe you one," the blonde stopped her.

While Blink grappled with the monster, Illyana swung true once more. The chain splintered and pulled back into the rift with great force. The grey-furred monster stalked around in a daze, then fell over exhausted.

"Lorna!" Illyana shouted, pointing at the large enemy.

With perfect reaction time, Lorna spread her arms and peeled the armor from around the figure's body. At the same time, Rachel and Emma broke through the wall protecting their mind. They collapsed to the ground in a heap, the silver coating receding from their body. It was a young man, his face framed between a mane of unkempt black hair and an ill-shaven beard. But all the hair in the world couldn't hide his face from Illyana.

"Piotr!" She called, running over to the unconscious man.

"No way," Kitty breathed, taking a step closer to the downed enemy. He was bruised and scratched, and more than a decade older than the last time she saw him. But the face staring back at her with closed eyes was the face of Piotr Rasputin. "Colossus," as she had come to know him. Her friend was kneeling over her brother, weping

Across the field, Dani approached the furry enemy and gingerly pulled off its muzzle. The face she saw was harder to recognize, but the sound that Doug made behind her confirmed what she had feared.

"Get Elixir out here," she barked. "Now."

His body was scarred and his fur was gradually regaining its blue color. And he had just taken quite a beating from the mutants in the yard. If they didn't get him some help soon, Henry McCoy might not live to see that he had finally escaped Limbo…

* * *

Belasco looked at the cleaved chains and sighed.

"Want something done right…"

He turned to Dazzler and addressed her coldly.

"Persistent. Your kind is persistent. But even the most stubborn can be brought to heel."

"Master!" a demon with large hanging ears brayed as he burst into the throne room.

"More intruders!"

Belasco pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I have more important things to deal with right now. Sym! Take care of them."

"S'right Boss," Sym shrugged and lumbered out of the room.

Jubilee caught sight of Alison, the teacher staring intently at her.

_"Get ready,"_ she mouthed.


	16. Chapter 16

"Psst! Sam! Bobby!"

Roberto did a double take when he saw Amara leaning out from behind a nearby planter.

"What are you doing out here, Amara?"

"Same as you. Illyana is my friend, too, you know."

Sam conceded she had a point.

"Well, we seem to have finished up here, get back inside before Frost senses you."

"If it's over, there shouldn't be a problem. We're safe now. Right?"

* * *

Henry McCoy was still getting his bearings. He was quite certain he wasn't in Limbo anymore, and he was fairly sure that he was on the property of the Xavier school. But why either of those things would be the case was still lost on him.

"Ugh. I feel like I've been put through a cheese grater."

"That would be my fault," Laura waved sheepishly.

"_Lamento eso,_ sorry about that."

"_Entiendo_," Hank replied. He squinted at her uniform.

"Have we met? Something about you seems familiar."

He was interrupted by a woman with brown hair and a yellow and black suit on, who was now jogging his way.

"I can't believe it. You have no idea how happy I am to see you alive and well. Doctor McCoy, it's good to have you back, but we'll have to bring you up to speed fast."

The mutant once known as "The Beast" for his brutish exterior sighed. "Let's have it then."

"You're back at the Xavier Mansion. It's been 17 years. The school is under attack by demons."

"That all sounds about right. Where is the professor?"

The woman's face twisted in grief.

Xavier… died last summer. I'm running the school now."

"I… see," Hank bowed his head. "And who might you be, Miss?"

"Heh. Pryde. I'm Kitty Pryde."

"Oh my. I've missed a lot. How have you been, dear girl?"

"Basically the same, except now I can legally take you for a drink."

She looked around at the aftermath of the battle.

"And boy am I gonna need one after this."

"I concur. Now, I don't see any of the denizens of Limbo you mentioned, aside from myself and young Peter. Perhaps you could fill me in on the details?"

* * *

"There he is. Welcome back, big guy."

Piotr Rasputin opened his eyes and found himself without his metallic coat for the first time in over a decade. A thick beard covered his chin, and his broad frame was covered in debris. The first thing he saw was the sky. He was surprised to remember what it looked like. The next thing he noticed was Lorna, still working on removing some of the infernal armor from his legs. Directly above him was Elixir, finishing his handiwork bringing him out of his unconscious state. And then he saw… his sister.

"Piotr!" Illyana's eyes shone with tears. But the boy's face twisted in anger.

"What trick is this?" Colossus lurched into a seated position and batted away Lorna.

"Belasco!" He shouted at the sky. "What new devilry is this?"

"It's not a trick, Piotr," Illyana called out. "It's really me! You're finally free of that pl-hrNNgg!"

Illyana collapsed.

The sunlight dimmed and the green drained from the world. It was as if the lawn itself was queasy with the thought of who was about to tread upon it.

The portal, still growling busily in the middle of the yard, yawned open wider to allow him to pass. The air grew charged as the sky over Belasco's entrance filled with clouds.

"Illyana," the demon oozed. For he made little effort to hide his nature now, his small horns and long, pointed tail on full display.

"My beautiful Darkchilde. It will be okay. I have you now."

* * *

In Limbo, the X-Men carved through the opposition with ease. Cyclops and Thunderbird held no qualms about killing the demons, though Cecily thought she saw the defeated foes crumble and roll off elsewhere into the landscape of Limbo.

"Thunderbird has a lock on Alison, we're going in," Kurt puffed in front of Scott to report.

"We'll keep the pressure on," Cyclops nodded.

"_Sehr gut!_ Mr. Lebeau, Armor, you're with me!"

"These guys sure don't like my light," Warren called from overhead.

Below him, Chris was guarding the Triplets.

"They're creatures of darkness," said Phoebe.

"Do any of you have light powers?" Chris asked.

"No," all three said.

"Then focus on that mental link!"

A pink demon with a brutish frame strode up to Scott as he blasted away at the hordes.

"G'day. Name's Sym."

"Pleasure," Cyclops' visor crackled with red light. "I'm-"

"Just leaving." Sym stated.

"I can't do that yet," he said, opening his visor on the demon.

"S'right," Sym grinned as he raked his arm through the ground, sending a massive spray of rocks into the path of Cyclops' eye beam and hitting him in the face.

"Wasn't asking anyway."

* * *

On the lawn, Belasco chuckled as he saw half a dozen mutants with very cross expressions plant themselves between him and his prize.

"You have no idea how worried I have been, sweet Darkchilde," he closed his eyes.

"You made a big mistake leaving your hole, Belasco," Kitty growled at the demon.

"That's him," Amara whispered to her friends. "That's the one who took Illyana and the others!"

"Not good," Sunspot murmured.

"The mistake is your own," Belasco said softly.

With unnatural speed, he reached Kitty's position and slapped her across the face, the force knocking her to the ground.

"Kitty!" Illyana's voice trembled.

"You are divided. Half your kind is in my world, facing all the horrors Limbo has to offer. What remains of your forces is hopelessly outmatched."

Emma, Rachel, Rahne and Laura charged Belasco from various portals Blink provided. Smoke surrounded the Lord of Limbo and enveloped the mutants. One by one each of them were sent flying out of the miasma, until it dissipated around the unscathed fiend.

"Pitiful creatures. Standing in the path of true greatness."

He held up his hand and showed off a gold medallion. Three blood red lights shone on its face. Illyana gasped in horror.

"Let us away from this place, Illyana. We must fulfil our destinies. Together."

Illyana shook in place.

"You - you!"

Her sword blazed in her hand. She leapt into the air and came down with a cascade of green and white spells impacting all around Belasco. The fiend responded by raising his arms and shattering each bolt in the air.

Lockheed, Beast and Elixir tried their best to get Kitty back and conscious.

"We need a plan," she said hoarsely, coughing up some blood. "He's going to take her!"

"Your magics are strong, Illyana" Belasco sneered. "As to be expected. When the ritual completes you will walk with all the powers of Limbo at your side. But first we must correct your _insolence!"_

Dani and Colossus were up next, the dark haired woman grazing Belasco with a light arrow. Colossus raised his arms for a titanic slam, but the Lord of Limbo stopped him in his tracks.

"You were always a fighter," he mused.

"But Limbo has sapped you of your strength, even if it hasn't dulled your will."

"Get away from my brother!" Piotr heard Illyana shout.

Polaris flew towards Belasco with a cloud of metal shrapnel orbiting her. Illyana sent a blast of sparks at her tormentor.

"I will never give you my soul!" She screamed.

Polaris recoiled from the heat of Belasco's attack as he laughed.

"Do not take me for a fool, Illyana. It is true that you gave me the first Bloodstone willingly. But you know just as well they can still be _taken by force!"_

A disc of baleful red light appeared behind Illyana, suspending the girl vertically in its glow. A pentagram formed around her, three of its points igniting in scarlet fire as the spell began to take hold.

Illyana screamed as the Demon King began to approach her. Wisps of arcane energy surrounded her body, digging into her like thorns.

Not for the first time in his life, Doug Ramsey wished his powers were more offensive in nature.

"My God," he whispered, "There must be something we can do."

Kitty found her footing again, and squared up with the foe. Belasco smiled haughtily and pushed her with a wave of force. Kitty phased through it and lunged for her blade, but he pushed the Earth under it farther away.

Belasco grey closer to Illyana, the ritual circle glowing brighter and the blonde woman's cries growing more desperate. He did not stop his advance, until a bolt of lightning struck the ground inches from his foot.

"You will _not_ touch her!" A voice boomed from on high.

Everyone looked up to see Ororo, floating in the air amidst the mounting clouds.

"No further, Belasco."


	17. Chapter 17

"Ororo! Kitty! Help me! I can't move!"

Kitty got up and surveyed the scene unfolding in the yard. Illyana was in Belasco's trap, the red light casting harsh shadows on her face in the darkening light.

The clouds in the skies above Storm boiled and flashed. The wind kicked up erratically, the leaves in the trees behind the house showing their undersides in fear. Then the rain started.

"You shouldn't have left Limbo, Belasco," Storm growled.

The drizzle turned into a steady squall, then a torrent as the sky darkened beneath the bank of ever-blackening clouds above the mansion.

"There, you were in your element. Here, all of the elements answer to me."

Some of the students had crept out of the Danger Room by now, watching the former teacher descend towards her old enemy. The windows shuddered in their frames as the wind hammered against the house. Every few seconds the sky was lanced with bolts of lightning and roars of thunder.

This is all very impressive, Ororo," Belasco rolled his eyes. "But demons aren't afraid of getting wet."

"Don't be afraid of the rain," Ororo said. Her intensely blue eyes clouded over solid white. And then the wind finally tightened around her into a funnel, confining herself and Belasco inside a tornado.

"Be afraid of me!"

All across the city of New York, phones blared severe weather alerts to confused citizens under cloudless skies. Meteorologists stared wildly at the strangest readouts the satellites had ever returned.

Rachel watched the battle through her energy vision. The shroud that blocked Ororo from Rachel's sight was gone, and she could see the brilliant hue of her aura even through the ravaging storm. But it wasn't confined to the silhouette of her body, as it was for everyone else. The entire area was inside of a haze the same color as Storm's aura. The redheaded girl couldn't believe it. Ororo wasn't controlling this storm, this storm _was_ her. An extension of her fury.

Belasco whipped himself into a fervor and began meeting her strikes with his own magic. The air was charged with electricity, thunderbolts exploding within the funnel cloud every second, with blasts of forbidden arcana bursting purple and green all around...

* * *

The throne room was quiet now. Jubilee had long since run out of insults to hurl from her hanging prison.

"Sym's really squishin' the mortals!" A call came from one of the parapets outside. An intrigued murmur floated through the guards.

A few of the demons started for the exit. The remaining ones jeered nervously.

"Master wants us to guard the mutants!"

"Master will be mad! Master make Sym squish you!"

"Mutants in cages," one of the departing demons waved his hand dismissively.

"Not going anywhere."

* * *

Leaves, twigs, and dime sized hailstones battered the mutants as they stood soaking wet, unsure of how best to intervene in the fight.

Lorna and Kitty tried to drive a steel beam from the tennis courts into the circle Illyana was suspended in. But the disc hissed angrily and radiated a force that sheared the end of the post off.

"Beast! Pete! Is there anything we can do to disrupt the spell? Yana's getting weaker by the minute!"

"Magic is not my forte, my dear," Hank shook his soaking wet head.

"Storm could use the dark magiks," Piotr said. "But she is busy."

"And not connected to Limbo anymore. I'm not sure if she could provide a counterspell if she wanted to."

"If Belasco goes down, there's nowhere for her soul to go, right?" Polaris landed next to Kitty.

"Let's hope Storm can finish the job."

* * *

"There must be something we can do," Amara shouted over the roar of the wind.

"Why don't we let the scary weather goddess keep doing her thing?" Sam shouted back.

"Belasco said it himself, we can't win if we're divided. We need to find the rest of the X-Men."

"The rest of the X-Men are in Limbo!" Roberto said, exasperated.

"You're right," Sam said. "And I'm looking right at a door to it."

"Oh, that's a terrible idea," Bobby frowned.

"Let's do it."

* * *

Only a few demons remained in the throne room now.

Alison's hair hung over her eyes, a grim expression on her face. She dropped a small bright pellet over the edge of her cage and down into the room below. When it hit the ground it exploded with a massive flash. The demons recoiled in fear and pain.

As the flash subsided, Jubilee started raining down sparklers of every color. Alison tossed crescents of razor sharp light at the cage bars, giving the students an opening to escape.

"Make for the exit!" Dazzler shouted. "If we can regroup with the X-Men we stand a fighting chance!"

"Less fight, muties," a deep voice rumbled from the doorway. A pair of burly demons with clubs entered the throne room.

"More die."

"Ugh. We don't have time for interruptions," Alison said angrily. "But if that's what it takes..."

"Anna," N'Ezhno whispered. "Take my hand."

"What?" Anna said, caught off guard.

"Take off your glove and copy my powers. Then follow my lead."

Anna squinted.

"But Nez, I don't know what your power does. Is it safe?"

"Is yours?"

"Ouch. Noted," Anna removed one of her gloves.

"Not too long. I need to be conscious, too."

Anna placed her hand in Nez's much larger one, and the transfer began. Her eyes and white streak glowed bright yellow, and she grew several inches in height. Her body strained against her sweatshirt.

"Oh God. It hurts! Hard to… concentrate."

"Walk forward," N'Ezhno boomed next to her. His tattoos were all glowing and he was at least a foot taller as well.

"And if anything has horns or a tail, put in the ground."

* * *

The rain subsided long enough for the X-Men to regain visibility of Ororo and Belasco. The mistress of the elements was doubled over, searching for a new reserve of strength.

"Tired, Ororo?" Belasco huffed, his own demeanor much weaker than at the start of the bout. He brandished a sword cloaked in an oily red aura.

"It must be tiring. How long has it been since nature answered your call like this? A decade? More? How much longer can you keep this-"

He was cut off as a fireball caught him in the side, setting his robes alight.

Amara's body flared scarlet and white, her sweat jacket scorched around the edges, as molten jets of magma streamed out of her arms and towards the Lord of Limbo.

"What the hell?" Emma watched the three students run at the demon.

"Are you off your nuts?" Wolfsbane screamed.

"Now Sam, now!" Roberto called. As he did so, his body ignited in black light and he took to the air. As he passed Amara he scooped her up in both arms. Sam rocketed forward - straight at Belasco. The demon lord dodged easily, but evidently Sam had planned for that. Without a further obstacle, the two Class A boys surged through the rift into Limbo.

Storm and Belasco momentarily paused their brawl to take in the sight. Emma and Rahne sprinted forward, aghast.

"Damnit, get back here you little animals!" The former White Queen screamed as she and Rahne pursued them into the portal.

They emerged into the twisted landscape of Limbo, the cavern's impossibly high roof shrouded in a sickly colored fog, rotten vegetation sprouting through the blasted out rocks of the terrain.

"My God," Rahne said in horror.

"This is where Illyana grew up? It must have been…"

"A nightmare," Emma could hardly find other words for it.

"Let's push on. They can't have gotten far."

* * *

Belasco was drenched and battered, and he could barely hear himself think over the tirade of wind rushing through the vortex his old adversary had once again trapped him in. But he would be defiant to the last.

"Even at your best, we're barely evenly matched!" He cackled, and then wheezed as the wind rushed from his lungs.

"You can't handle my best," Ororo's voice carried even over the wind.

"You'd buckle under the pressure!"

The twister tightened further into a whirling sphere of air and water around Storm and Belasco. The clouds began to lose their grip on the sky, giving the X-Men a moment of respite, before the maelstrom kicked up once more, funnelling into the bubble.

The air began to thin around Ororo as the weather goddess channeled her energies into dropping the air pressure inside.

The scream of the hurricane force wind rose in pitch until, with a ruinous pop, the dome ruptured. The force of the vacuum tossed Belasco through the air. The rain was blown in all directions, and then tapered back into a slow shower as the smell of ozone wafted across the property.

Belasco raised an arm meekly and tried to right himself.

"Still you persist?" Storm boomed. "I hadn't realized that demons could handle so much punishment!"

"There's a lot about demons you don't know," he coughed. "We're good at quite a lot of things."

He staggered to his feet and adjusted his cloak.

"Take stalling, for instance."

With a sound like metal on ice, the magic gathering around Illyana condensed into a single tiny point of red light. The dot sailed across the flooded yard and into Belasco's hand. When he opened it again, he held a gold pendant with four red gems set around its edge. One more space was open.

Its work done, the pentagram dissipated, and with an intense shriek Illyana fell to the ground.

"Yana!"

Shadowcat rushed to her friend's side, but in a flash of light, she found herself on the other side of the yard.

"I'm sorry Kitty," Illyana managed as she slumped down, having exerted the last of her willpower to get the brown-haired woman a safe distance away.

"It's too late."

"No…" Storm said in despair.

Through her bangs Illyana saw her Soulsword, the last remaining piece of her sundered soul, sticking upright into the ground. If only it were close enough to reach!

_It wouldn't do you any good,_ a voice muttered in her mind.

_A soulless wretch has no need for a light like that._

_Your destiny is in the darkness, and you belong in the dark._

A feral growl stirred in her throat. Layers of iridescent black scales began sprouting over her skin, and her hair grew down to her waist, stained the color of dried blood. Feet gave way to hooves as her legs inverted into sinewed digitigrade stalks. Her eyes turned solid red, then black, then receded altogether as the last traces of Illyana Rasputin withered into a deathly visage. A pair of long goatlike horns and a reptilian tail completed the transformation.

Through lidless, sapphire globes of flame she looked out on the world. Smoke trailed from her hair as she turned her head, first blankly regarding Kitty, then the students, then Belasco. Illyana loosed a blood curdling howl and the school shook.

Belasco began to laugh.

"Tremble before her, mutants! The Child of Darkness has been born, and your world of light will die!"

* * *

_Cerebro Files [Name Pending]

_Civilian Name: N'Ezhno, Son of Abidemi

_Mutant Ability: Strength Augmentation

_Wakanda. It's hard to believe it's been almost eight years since the biggest bombshell in 200 years of sociopolitics was dropped. The Olympics ought to be sensational this year. Our new friend N'Ezhno hails from Wakanda, and he's as enigmatic a boy as anyone I've ever seen come out of that place. I imagine our world must be as unknown to him as it is the other way around.

[ADMN_F/0507-2024]

_Miss Pryde says that N'Ezhno will be getting slightly different training than the rest of his class. He's a pacifist, both by choice and as a consequence of his mutation, which puts a great strain on his body. So no fight training. I hope he won't feel left out.

[ADMN_R/0501-2024]

_Cerebro Files [Angel]

_Civilian Name: Warren Worthington III

_Mutant Ability: Flight (Organic Wings)

_We have received invitations to Warren's wedding today. Jean insists I attend, and though I seldom leave the manor these days, I think I shall relent. When she and Scott married, I had never felt more old. But now there's a certain peace to it. I'm told the bride to be is a mutant as well. Bioluminescence; a fascinating mutation. I will have to mind myself not to pry.

[ADMN_X/0219-2004]

_Mr. Worthington's son must have inherited powers from both his parents, like I did. It's not actually that common. I wonder how far back the wings mutation goes in the family? Maybe as far back as the name Warren.

[ADMN_R/0320-2024]

_Worthington holds stakes in several very lucrative business ventures. Blonde, handsome, _and_ wealthy? He's like a male version of me. I wonder if we have the same therapists.

[ADMN_F/0323-2024]


	18. Chapter 18

Illyana was falling through absolute darkness. It brought back unpleasant memories of her first trip to Limbo. Eventually she slowed to a stop, and found herself at the floor of the abyss.

From that endless inky expanse a shape began to form. _Her_ shape.

It was like looking in a mirror. A dark, terrible mirror. This Illyana had shimmering black hair, and piercing red eyes. A pair of small horns poked through her bangs, and she twirled the end of a long thin tail around her finger.

"So we meet at last," the other Illyana said, her mouth forming a smile that was anything but warm.

"The famed Darkchilde."

"That's not who I am!"

"In a manner of speaking. That's who _I_ am, and I'm as much a part of you as that pretty little face."

* * *

Remmy burst through the threshold into the throne room.

"Anna-Marie! Ma Cherie, I've come to rescue you! Where are-"

He was snatched by the neck and tossed halfway across the throne room by a large hand. As he felt the air slowly retreat back into his lungs, a shape appeared over him.

"Sorry about that, dude," Jubilee wasn't sure if she wanted to move him or not.

"She's kind of out to lunch right now…"

The oversized Anna was pacing back and forth, huffing and puffing amongst a pile of demons in various states of consciousness. Alison was helping N'Ezhno, who was back to his usual size and nursing a headache.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Jubilee asked once Remy seemed a bit more cognizant.

In a puff of smoke, Kurt, Thunderbird, and Armor arrived on the scene.

"It looks like we missed a party," Hisako said in awe as she took in the aftermath.

"There's plenty more party out there," Jonathan shook his head.

Kurt approached Anna slowly.

"I wouldn't - _mon dieu_ \- I wouldn't get so close if I were you." Remy wheezed.

"It's okay, Anna," Kurt said gently. "You know who I am."

Anna nodded.

"Kurt! How much longer will I stay like this?"

"I'm not sure. But if you have a bit more in the tank, I have an idea as to how you might use it more constructively. Alison?"

"It's your class too. But if we're the cavalry, you can bet I'm coming too."

"And I, as well." N'Ezhno said softly as he stood up.

"Nez, you already look half dead," Jubilee frowned.

"We brought Triage along," Thunderbird replied.

"He can look at you, see if we can't get you back on your feet."

"Let's just go!" Anna shouted. "I'm goin' berserk just standing here. It's like everything is on fire. Nez, is this what it feels like for you, too?"

"Always," N'Ezhno said somberly.

* * *

"This place sucks," Sam observed as the three runaway mutants trekked across the hellscape.

"We shouldn't have come here," Amara shivered.

"Hell of a time to get cold feet, Amara," Bobby called from his vantage point higher up the hill.

"I see a castle up ahead. Let's head there and see if there are any signs of them."

A trio of voices suddenly broke out in their heads.

_What are you guys doing here?_

_Didn't Miss Frost give you two detention?_

_This place really sucks._

"It's the Cuckoos!" Sam shouted.

_You don't have to be so loud._

"Where are you guys?" Amara asked.

"It's getting bad out there. Illyana and Miss Pryde need all hands on deck."

_It's not exactly great in here._

_A warzone, more like._

_Keep going in the direction you're headed, and look for a cliff face. You'll probably see Mr. Summers' lasers from there._

_And hurry,_ all three said.

_There's bad things out there._

* * *

"She must hate me," Rahne moaned.

"I said such horrible things. I didn't know what this place was like!"

"I'm sure she would love to hear your apology if we all survive this mess," Emma said dryly. They had been traveling for about 20 minutes, and Rahne's guilt was beginning to wear thin on the woman.

They came to a cliff overlooking the blasted landscape. They saw Belasco's Castle high on the left.

Rahne gave a sniff in the air.

"Look there - that's them."

They saw the three small shapes of Amara, Sam, and Bobby clambering up a hill.

"That's not all we found," Emma pointed Rahne's head a bit farther up. There was a massive battle going on at the top of the hill.

"Looks like the gang's all here," Rahne breathed. "Shall we get to it, then?"

"I can't go diamond," Emma said. "Rachel is the only psychic left out there to relay our location to."

"I'll watch your back," Rahne growled. She had already taken her wolf form.

And so the battle was joined and the X-Men made their stand in Limbo.

Nightcrawler, Sam, and Bobby ran interference, while Wolfsbane, Dazzler, and Thunderbird dismantled the demons at close range.

Chris and Amara - the girl still unused to using her powers - hung back with Emma and the Cuckoos. With all four of their minds together the psychics could send huge swathes of demons into terrors from their imaginations.

Armor, Rogue, and N'Ezhno - once he was fixed up - put their large size and strength towards crowd control, while the others attempted to get Sym off of Cyclops long enough to get their leader out of harm's way.

Scott was bleeding through his nose by the time he finally reached Triage.

"Let's get you patched up, Mr. Summers," Chris said.

"I'm glad everyone is okay," Sam landed next to the two mutants.

"Now we can get back to the house, pronto." Bobby shouted from up above.

"Roberto? What are you doing here?"

"There will be time for _that_ later," Emma shot Sam and Roberto a look that could curdle milk.

"But the boys are right. While you darlings took the fight to the demons, Belasco himself took the fight to us."

"Then we need to wrap things up," Cyclops said, standing up again. He looked at Sym, the same pleasant, expectant look on his face.

"Any ideas on how to deal with him?"

"Maybe one," Nightcrawler stroked his chin.

"Are you sure, Kurt?" Alison frowned. He's pretty big."

"He's undoubtedly lighter than Pietro though," Kurt grinned.

"I would appreciate some assistance though, _fraulein_."

"Plenty of noise out here," Dazzler nodded. Her eyes illuminated.

"Could use the release anyway."

* * *

"I am the dark part of you. The _strong_ part of you. And once the last of your soul has been extracted into the Bloodstone Amulet, I will be in charge."

"Without my soul, you'll take over my body?"

"_Our_ body. Do try to keep up," Darkchilde rolled her eyes.

"Though right now that's a bit of a moot point."

"What are you talking about?"

"You mean you don't know?"

Illyana clenched her fist and conjured a sphere of flame.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Darkchilde wagged her finger and held up her arm. The entire environment convulsed around her.

"Let's go ahead and have a looksie, shall we?"

She twisted her fingers and an image appeared between the two girls. It showed a rampaging beast with a skeletal, flaming head and thick hooves.

Illyana looked at the creature.

"Is that thing… me?"

"Everything is relative, Illyana," Darkchilde grinned.

"That 'thing' represents the conflict in your soul. Between the person your mind wants to remain and the person your body desperately wants to become. Until one of us can triumph over the other, it will be master over both of us."

"But I _don't_ want it! I've spent my entire adult life trying to prevent the Inferno!"

"Mm. And that's where I come in. When you touched the first Bloodstone, I was born. I will fulfill my purpose and throw open the door to this universe for Belasco's legions. Our destiny is written in blood, and soon it will be at hand."

* * *

"So close," he muttered, looking at his collection of stones torn from Illyana's soul, "I can taste it."

A flash of steel sent him reeling as Ororo, her dagger in hand, found purchase in the side of his head.

The wind surged once more around Storm and Belasco as the thing that was once Illyana raged on the lawn.

Belasco stood up. The gash left by Storm's knife had turned a dark crimson, and the demon king's right eye was now a fiery yellow with a slit for a pupil.

"How many layers of deception are there, I wonder?" Storm spat. "How many masks hide the true ugliness at the heart of Belasco?"

Belasco grinned a newly asymmetric grin.

"Scratch me with whichever claws suit you, Storm. Look upon your innocent little charge now. She will bathe this world in an Inferno beyond reckoning. You have failed. In fact..."

He snapped his finger towards the hulking Darkchilde and commanded her attention.

"Oh Illyana," he sang with malice. She began lumbering towards him, the grass beneath her feet withering into straw.

"Come show your Auntie Storm what became of that sweet little girl she fought so hard for."

The Darkchilde held out its arm and called forth the Soulsword. It flew to her hand and lit with orange flame. Then the beast started walking, slowly and purposefully towards Storm.

* * *

Dazzler strode towards Sym with arms outstretched. As he started to walk towards her, the entire world went white. From his perspective anyway. Nightcrawler ported through the field of light Dazzler emitted, grabbed onto the great pink demon, and the pair of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

A thousand feet up, another burst of smoke released the two combatants.

"Ey, whatcha playing at, blue?" Sym screamed over the roar of the wind.

"A delay of game, my friend!_ Auf wiedersehen!_"

Kurt vanished, then reappeared next to Cyclops.

"Not exactly original, but when you learn to shoot green lasers out of your eyes instead of red, you can judge my lack of variety anytime you like."

"I'll take it," Scott muttered as he watched the faraway shape of Sym plummet towards the ground.

"Emma, contact Illyana, get us out of here."

"We've been trying," Phoebe said.

"We can't get through," said Celeste.

"Something is wrong," Mindee said.

"We came through Belasco's rift," Amara realized.

"It's probably still there," Sam added.

"Then let's move, X-Men!" Scott ordered.

* * *

As Darkchilde circled Illyana, a sword appeared, embedded in the floor of the abyss between them. It cast a blue light that Illyana's eyes struggled to adjust to.

"Oh good, it has the sword. That makes things simple. One last little bit of light left to purge and I can get this show on the road."

Darkchilde raised her hand and the tip of the sword where it stuck into the floor turned red. The red glow began to inch its way up the blade, the last fragment of Illyana's soul slowly giving way to Limbo's corruption.

In the glow of the Soulsword Illyana could just make out the shape of Storm standing her ground against Belasco.

"Ororo," she said, her voice weak.

"I know what you're thinking," Darkchilde said. "She can't save you from me. You _are_ me."

Illyana looked up at the blue light, the red corruption spreading further up its length.

"Don't."

It was the same feeling she had all those years ago. It might have been fear then. It might be fear now. But her desire to run was suddenly stronger than that creeping feeling that rooted her in place.

She surged forward and placed her hands on the Soulsword, and the black expanse shuddered from a psychic earthquake.

"If you strike me, it will only delay the inevitable. You cannot kill me, just as you could not silence your own darkest thoughts!"

"You want to send every living thing on Earth to Hell?" Illyana's voice was shrill and haggard. She was stooping under the mounting pressure inside the void.

"Fine! _You can go first!_"

She thrust the sword into Darkchilde, and then there was nothing...


	19. Chapter 19

Belasco retreated from Storm as the Darkchilde bore down on her. Ororo faced it and closed her eyes.

"Illyana. I tried everything I could. But I will not hurt you, whatever of you remains."

"How noble," Belasco oozed. "What a touching sentiment, just before the end."

She waited for an inglorious end. But it never came. To her surprise, the creature was locked in place, looking at the burning sword in its hand.

"Darkchilde, finish the witch off!" Belasco ordered.

It stayed in place.

"Now, Darkchilde!"

Nothing. The monster twitched and growled.

"Illyana, you do not wish to upset me, do you?"

The Soulsword erupted in blue fire, spreading up the Darkchilde's arm and immolating its entire body.

"It can't be... possible," Belasco's eyes widened.

The towering beast was lost in a column of flame. Within it, Kitty could just make out a shape. It became more defined as the fire twisted around.

Illyana, her body clad in silver armor and her eyes blazing, stepped out of the fire. The Soulsword pulsed in her hand.

"She fought it," Ororo said, amazed and relieved.

"Yes! Kick his ass Yana!" Kitty shook her fists.

"Illyana, you break my heart," Belasco clutched his chest mockingly.

"You never had one in the first place," she scowled.

"And you have so little left, yourself."

Plumes of black smoke filtered from Belasco's cloak and engulfed the two. Belasco's voice cut through the smog as he circled her.

"Everything you are, everything _I_ made you - you would deny it? Leave it behind for what? Your conscience? All the parts of you that were ever worth saving are mine, now."

"I'm not afraid of you anymore, Belasco."

"Yes you are," he hissed. "You're terrified. Your worst nightmares are coming true. Because deep inside you were always the monster inside your own closet. And now all your friends and loved ones have seen it in the flesh.

"That thing wasn't me. And it wasn't the Darkchilde either."

"You may believe that is true. You may even be right."

The smoke dissipated, and Belasco gestured at the crowd of mutants on the lawn.

"But what will they believe?"

Illyana pointed her blade at his head.

"I'm taking my soul back, and after I do, that thing will never be able to hurt them."

Belasco laughed haughtily.

"You've always lacked the strength to stand up to me."

"I was raised in Limbo, raised in the dark magiks of it. I'm not the frail little thing you tempted with flowers and baubles."

Blue whips of lightning emerged from her hands, and she lashed out to ensnare her tormentor.

"You have talent," Belasco conjured a wall of magic far greater than any he had used in battle with Storm. They caught the thunderbolts and absorbed them effortlessly.

"Talent I could use, if you would let me. But do not fancy yourself an enchantress after your paltry years of study. Entire civilizations have risen and fallen while I was probing the depths of the arcane. You are nothing! _I_ control the magic of Limbo!"

His hair stood on end as energy beyond mortal comprehension pooled inside of him. Illyana only continued to glare at him.

"No."

Illyana was under the away of a power even she didn't know the source of. An instinct she had built up over years of fear and helplessness.

"You cannot control my magiks."

With a few deft movements of her arms, she conjured a new pentagram in the air. This one was bright blue, like the glow of her sword.

"I… _am_ Magik!"

Beams of light surged from the five pointed symbol, homing in on the Lord of Limbo

"And you cannot control me."

Belasco screamed in the spell's embrace, its brilliant light cauterizing the gash made by Storm's knife.

The pendant containing the four Bloodstones flew out of his robes and froze in place before him. The "magiks," as Piotr and Illyana had learned to call them from fairytales they heard as children, squeezed and pried at the foul instrument. Fissures erupted from the earth beneath the sorceress' spell circle, until finally one of the cursed stones wrested itself from the pendant and flew into Illyana's hand. One of the points of the star behind her illuminated in silvery light, the second to bear such an effect. Her Soulsword turned a searing white. But Illyana did not waver. The same look of absolute determination on her face, she twisted her hand and continued her assault.

"She's going to tear this place apart!" Blink called to Kitty. It was hard to hear, and even harder to see what was transpiring.

"Do not interfere!" Storm bellowed, her voice as audible as ever in the din.

"This is her moment. To become whole again."

Belasco continued to writhe in the agony of Magik's purifying light. His spine bent in all sorts of ways that would be unnatural to an ordinary man. After a great deal more struggle, a second Bloodstone was pulled out of its setting, the last one he had taken before Storm and Illyana had made their escape so long ago.

The Soulsword flashed as it returned home, nearly doubling in size from a straight sword to a heavy broadsword.

Ilyana's strength was beginning to run out. She had never channeled this much magic before. It was at that moment that Cyclops' party of mutants emerged squinting from the portal out of Limbo.

Thinking quickly, Belasco snapped his fingers and fired a ball of green fire at the portal, where Sam, Bobby, and Emma were now standing.

Instinctually, Illyana teleported in front of the other mutants and cleaved through the Eldritch bolt with her Soulsword. As the smoke cleared, Belasco was gone.

"Goodbye for now, Illyana," said a voice, inches from her ear. She wheeled around to see the demon king retreating like a gust of wind through the rift, a smile on his face despite the lurid wound in his face. He held up the pendant, displaying the two glowing points of red still inside it.

"But not forever."

The rift closed, and sunlight filtered through the scattering clouds.

* * *

"Yana! Yana, wake up!"

Illyana was in the backyard. Kitty was there, and Elixir and Triage were next to her.

"He's gone."

"He is. Are you okay?"

Illyana pulled herself up and looked around.

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

She quickly limped back into the house.

Across the lawn, Emma approached Polaris. Her white boots and cape were full of dirt and mud. She was trying to cross the saturated grounds in as dignified a manner as possible.

"Miss Dane. Good to see you in one piece."

Lorna smirked.

"Nice of you to think of me, Miss Frost. I'm also glad that you weren't killed by demons."

"Of course," Emma shrugged.

"Of course."

"Lorna, you've surely met a number of mutants in the underground."

"Yeah?"

Emma looked around the yard. Branches and leaves were strewn everywhere, the grass was scorched in several places.

"I don't suppose any of them were _landscaping_ mutants, by any chance?"


	20. Chapter 20

_Data Authenticated

{1_File(s) decrypted}

_A miracle has happened. Storm and Illyana have escaped their terrible fate in Limbo. Ororo is staying with the girl nearby. We both agree that the school is likely not a safe place for her. This world is now almost as foreign to her as Limbo was seven years ago. Ororo is adamant that Illyana should attend school, after she has had time to prepare herself, to better adapt.

Last night, I found what I believe to be the solution. Katherine Pryde, a student who unfortunately had her time here cut short by the fall of the X-Men, has been on my radar of late. I see potential in her, based on the Deerfield Incident, that she might be a candidate for helping me restore the X-Men to their former state. Now I'm even more sure. She's studying in Chicago currently, and Illyana is nearly the same age. She could be just what we need to keep Illyana safe. We'd have to be quite clandestine about the whole thing though. Katherine does not know what Illyana has been through. I'd like to keep it that way.

For the first time in quite a while, I feel rather hopeful about the future. With the return of my oldest student, we can set the stage for my newest to take the reigns after I am gone.

[ADMN_X/0225-2014]

* * *

It was a nice summer morning, about one week later, when the school opened its doors once again for the parents of the student body. Getting the school ready for the open house after everything that happened was a tall order, but Emma was never short on favors.

"Everything's going well, Emma," Lorna said, pouring herself a glass of water. "You want some?"

"That would be splendid, dear. Thank you."

They watched the students and their guests mill around the dining room for a brief moment.

"How are the students minding the whole "demon invasion" thing?" Emma asked.

"Quietly. You could hardly ask for silence, but generally the only kids blabbing are the ones whose parents are alumni. A crisis is kind of a rite of passage to them."

"I suppose Mr. Worthington is just happy to see a few more of his comrades saved from that ghastly place."

Emma took a sip of her water.

"Actually, that is a good topic of conversation."

"Limbo?"

"Yes. I recently had an… expansion of my worldview. I thought I understood the worst the world had to offer, but I wasn't thinking big enough. I also have come to realize that you are the closest thing to a peer I have at this school."

"And how is that?" Lorna raised an eyebrow.

"Because we both come from the other side of things. I didn't know your father as well as Ororo and the Professor, but we… ran in the same circles. My point is, I do not want to make an enemy of one of the few people who might be able to understand."

"I was pretty young when Magneto… left," Lorna looked down. "I've spent my entire life doing things to prove to myself that I wouldn't turn out like him. You said you were part of my dad's 'circles;' do you think he would have been disappointed in me?"

"Based on where Erik was when I knew him, you two would disagree on quite a lot."

"Good," Lorna drained her cup. "So, do you think we should start over?"

"I would like that."

"Cool."

"If it's all the same though, I think it's best our co-teaching period come to an end. Kitty and I were looking at a rotation."

"Who do you have in mind for me?"

"A supervisory role. Over Miss Sinclair, Miss Moonstar, and Mr. Ramsey's new class."

Lorna tilted her head. "Four teachers for one class? Seems like overkill."

Emma smirked. "Not for these students."

* * *

I don't know who I expect to come scream at me first," Sam cowered, "Miss Frost, or my mom after she finishes talking to Miss Frost."

He, Bobby, the Cuckoos, and Rachel were sitting in the sun room together.

"She has other things bothering her right now," said Celeste.

"You should probably know," Mindee whispered to Rachel, "that she's concerned about you and her as well."

"I'm 'concerned' too," Rachel shrugged.

"Maybe you should talk to her," Phoebe said.

"I will… when I'm ready. I know what she means to the three of you, but… it's not that way with us."

"You know, for people who can talk with your brains, you sure are bad at talking with your mouths," Bobby said, earning sour looks from all three girls.

* * *

"Um, Storm?"

Storm was fixing herself a plate at the buffet. When she looked up, Kitty and Scott were there. They both looked guilty about something.

"We've been thinking," Kitty began.

"Neither of us have exactly acted our age recently," Scott shuffled his foot.

"But you managed to keep your head through everything Belasco threw at us. Plus, now you have your powers back."

"So maybe _you_ should be team leader."

Storm looked at the two of them. Then she laughed.

"No, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Oh?" Kitty looked at Scott, but his face was as blank as hers.

"When Charles and Erik and I returned to the United States to start this school, we knew that we would have to address the plight of mutants across the globe. We knew it would need to be more than the three of us, so our goal was to find young mutants who could be taught to control their mutations, be made to care about mutantkind, and who could one day shoulder the burden of leadership. If I took the lead now, what would the last thirty years have been for? Truly, I would be failing the Professor's dream for this place if I let you just quit."

"Wow," Kitty breathed.

"I know," Scott said. "Now imagine being on the receiving end as a teenager."

Kitty stepped closer to Storm.

"Well, thank you, Ororo. But don't sell yourself short. I don't know what we'd do without you."

"You already have the makings of a great team," Ororo smiled. "You just need to be better at talking to others."

Then she turned to Scott.

"And you need to get better at _listening_ to others. I've been trying to teach you that since you were 14."

"I'm… sorry."

"I haven't given up on you yet, Mr. Summers."

* * *

Cecily had stepped outside to get some fresh air, when she saw Laura pacing anxiously along the end of the driveway. Every once in a while she leaned out of the open gate and grumbled.

"What are you doing, Laura?"

"Hn," Laura grunted.

"Looking for their car. I sent your parents an invitation."

"You did what?"

"I've been checking for two hours, they still aren't here."

She leaned out from the gateway and checked the other side of the wall for cars once again.

"They aren't coming," Cecily said gently.

"But they have to come, they're your family!"

Cecily laughed, then gave Laura a hug.

"Come back inside."

"Cess," Laura frowned. "I'm not good at this part of... having a friend. I always think that - since I'm invulnerable - everyone else needs my protection."

The silver skinned girl smiled.

"Do you wanna know a secret?"

"Sure."

"When I went on the mission last week, to Limbo? I did it because I wanted to show you I could be tough. I knew you were worried about the open house, but really it's fine. I know where I stand with my family."

"You don't need to prove anything to me," Laura said.

"And I don't need you to fight all my battles. Especially the one with my mom and dad."

"I knew it was a bad idea. I wanted to go over the plan with Kitty, but then there was all the demon stuff."

"I appreciate what you did," Cecily laughed. "Now come on, everyone will be looking for us."

* * *

On the other side of the buffet, an awkward meeting between Triage and Armor was taking place.

"Chris," the girl began to say.

"Hisako," he started at the same time.

"You should go first," she said quietly.

"I wanted to talk about that Limbo mission."

"So did I, actually."

The both snickered. Then Chris grew a serious expression.

"So, where I grew up, I knew people that reminded me of Warren. They had money, attention. Influence. They never seemed interested in using it on me, but a lot of other people I knew totally fell for it. And it always ended the same way. They got discarded and stepped over for the next batch. I hated seeing my best friend go down the same path, and… I was jealous."

Hisako looked Chris in the eye.

"Chris, that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me. You're my friend, and I'm sorry if all that stuff with Warren got in the way of that. But I think you're wrong about him. I don't think he's like that on purpose."

She leaned in and whispered.

_"He's kind of an airhead."_

"Warren has this kind of special universe he comes from. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't caught up in it myself. The money, the attention. He's a solid dude, he's just not used to being out of it."

She scratched her head.

"The uh, Warren… universe."

Chris looked at her, a bewildered but encouraging smile on his face.

"So I'm basically over him anyway."

They exchanged a fist bump.

"In that case, dibs!"

Jubilee suddenly made her presence known at the table, a beaming expression of victory on her face.

"How long have you been standing there?" Hisako asked, bewildered.

"Long enough. Kind of an airhead? Kind of a _gorgeous_ airhead! And now I have dibs!"

She ran off into the crowd.

"I think it's a good thing we didn't come here until we were 17," Chris said.

"This place messes with your head."

* * *

Towards the end of the day, Kurt and Anna passed one another in the hall. Anna was helping clean up.

"Heya Kurt!"

"Good afternoon, Anna. You have a moment?"

"Sure. Whatcha up to?"

He twiddled his large thumbs.

"I've been a terrible brother lately."

"What?"

"When you developed your mutation, I was scared. Scared of what could happen if you copied mine."

"But you like your mutation."

"I wear it well!" He grinned. "But when I was your age, it was the name of my existence. One day you're you and the next you're… a new you. It took me a long time to make peace with it."

"Kurt…"

"So I decided I would be your brother - from a distance. Bringing you here was having my cake and eating it too. But being your teacher has gotten in the way of being your family."

She reached up with a wavering hand to touch his face. Her skin gradually turned fuzzy and blue, and her eyes frosted over yellow.

"Well? How do I look?"

"You… look like my sister."

When she pulled her hand back, the color receded, and her appearance returned to normal. She looked at her hand, astonished.

"Well hey, look at that!"

Hank entered and interrupted with a polite cough.

"Kurt, when you have a chance, Warren and I would love to get up to speed on the various goings-on. Scott is with us downstairs in the lounge. Should be just like old times, if you exclude basically everything."

Kurt looked at his sister.

"Anna?"

"Go ahead, Kurt," Anna nodded. "I'm going to take these cups back to the kitchen and see what kind of leftovers we're working with."

* * *

"Kitty found her on the roof of the school.

"Hey, you."

"Hey," Illyana sighed. "I've been… avoiding you this week. Sorry about that."

"I figured you'd need some time. You looked like you were doing some serious thinking."

Illyana looked at her hand.

"I took back two Bloodstones, so now I have one more than I did when we left Limbo. But Belasco still has the other two, and he's gone."

"But not for good. I've made some calls, and a specialist will be here tomorrow to investigate our situation."

Illyana shot her an odd look, then looked down at the ground, smiling softly.

"I want you to have something."

"What?"

Illyana summoned her Soulsword and flipped it so that the hilt faced Kitty.

"The best part of me. I need you to hold onto it for a while. And if the Darkchilde ever takes over again, I want you to promise me that you'll use it to end her - once and for all."

"Yana-"

"This is bigger than both of us, Kitty. If it gets that far, there won't be anything of me in there worth saving."

"I don't know if-"

"Promise me, Kitty."

"...I promise."

Kitty touched the hilt of the sword and it vanished.

"You can summon it with a thought, now. Hopefully a good thought," Illyana smiled.

"We'll get this sorted, Yana. We're the X-Men. We can do anything. By the way, Sam and Roberto really want to talk to you. They're really broken up about letting Belasco get away."

"I will talk to them," Illyana nodded. "I wasn't able to hold Belasco, but I wouldn't have done it any differently. Everyone here is like family. I would do anything to protect them."

She frowned.

"I only wish my _whole_ family could be here."

* * *

Ororo and Piotr walked to the end of the driveway together.

"Where will you go?" Storm asked.

"Home," Colossus answered shortly. "Away from this school and its madness. Somewhere I can clear my head. I want no more part of the X-Men."

"I understand," Ororo said. "You went through quite an ordeal. She missed you terribly, you know. If you stayed-"

He put a thick arm on her shoulder.

"Thank you for keeping her safe, Ororo."

Storm watched him cross the boundaries of the school gate. He didn't look back.

* * *

And in a chamber at the top of his maddening palace, Belasco ran a finger over his scarred face. On the table before him was the medallion, now only two red gemstones set in its star shaped face.

He waved his hand, and three more gems suddenly flickered in and out of view.

A fire rose in his eyes. He grinned.

**|X-Men: Blood Ties|**


	21. Epilogue

_[A/N]: _Thank you for reading, everyone. It sure took a while, but I'm always happy to finish a story. I'll be taking a break to tune up some upcoming projects, then be back in the summer. And the X-Men? Well, there's always something to see if you stay til the end...

* * *

_"My condolences, Professor."_

_Charles Xavier turned his chair around to face the visitor. He hadn't shaved in several days. His bloodshot eyes bored into her._

_"You shouldn't have come."_

_The visitor was a woman whose age was difficult to place. Her head was entirely bald, but her eyes twinkled and creased with youthful energy. She wore a heavy yellow robe._

_"You blame me."_

_Xavier laughed bitterly._

_"Let's say that all the blame is currently in this room and leave it at that."_

_The Ancient One was unmoved._

_"I told you there were risks involved in interplanar travel."_

_"You told me a great many things. I suspect you omitted a great deal more."_

_"You're welcome to read my mind, Charles" she said, smiling a thin smile now. "You'll learn far more than you bargained for."_

_He bowed his head._

_"Ah yes. You have your rules, just as I have mine. Now. There comes the matter of the future."_

_"I'm not sure there is one. My team is coming apart, the school is closing, and the only other people I would trust to know what to do next are a world away. There's no one left to protect mutantkind. No more heroes to save us."_

_"It would certainly appear that way now," the woman tilted her head up._

_"Now," Xavier chewed on the word a little longer. "But not forever?"_

_"We are both teachers. We both have people that have learned from us, who will graduate from our tutelage one day."_

_"And on that day," a light returned to Xavier's eyes. "The X-Men will return?"_

_"They might."_

_"But that could be a decade," Xavier realized angrily. "Mutants can't go unprotected that long. Humankind will not simply forget about us."_

_"No. They won't forget," her smile widened now._

_"Not simply, at any rate."_

Stephen Strange brought his hands together, returning the study to present day. A tiny point of green light in the pendant around his neck flickered as the oculus closed.

"Why did you show me this?" Kitty asked.

"My former teacher had a… unique way of looking at the world. One your professor seemed to share."

"And one which I'm pretty sure I don't."

"Likewise. After Xavier passed, an associate of mine regained his memory of this encounter. The oath of the Sorcerer Supreme forbids passage between Limbo and our realm. She made a single exception to allow your friends to try to rescue Illyana Rasputin. I am bound by that same oath as the new Sorcerer Supreme. However - as I said - Belasco _will_ return somehow for the rest of the girl's soul. And when that happens, my oath won't be enough to stop the invasion." He gave her a wry grin.

"So you will help us?"

"Miss Pryde, we all will help you. Because when the Inferno reaches our dimension, the Avengers will be there to meet it."

Kitty shook Strange's hand. "And so will the X-Men."

* * *

**The X-Men **

**and the Avengers**

**Will Return...**

**...In INFERNO**

**Coming this Winter**

* * *

In the dark of a nameless pit in Limbo, a demon pawed at the shackles around his neck. Scuttling through a gap in the collapsed stonework, he came upon an unlit throne atop a heap of rusted metal.

"Master! News!"

A heavily armored hand lifted with great effort from the throne and pointed at the demon.

"It is as you said! The mutants came to free their comrades!"

"And what of the girl?" An intensely worn voice rasped from the throne.

"She is not here, Master," the demon winced. "The mutants still have her-"

The demons was suddenly foisted upwards by his chain, floating in the air before the seated figure. Two swords dislodged themselves from the pile and crossed in front of the demon's throat.

"Belasco... failed?"

"Belasco... argh!" The shackles tightened against his neck.

"Belasco still has two of the Stones! He will try again!"

The demon fell tot he ground and ran away sobbing.

"He will try again. And then it will finally be time," The figure whispered.

"For the reunion."


End file.
